ROUSES_MayJun2019_Magazine-Print

c a j u n g l o s s a r y

Courtbouillon (coo-boo-yon): A rich, spicy tomato-based soup or stew made with fish fillets, onions, and sometimes mixed vegetables Couyon (coo-yawn): A Cajun French term used to describe a foolish or crazy person Cracklin’ (crack-lin): Pork fat and skin fried in hog lard until crispy étouffée (ay-too-fay): A smothered dish usually made with crawfish or shrimp Fais do-do (fay-doe-doe): A Cajun dance party with a fiddle-led band Filé (fee-lay): Ground sassafras leaves Frissons (free-sons): The chills or goosebumps Gumbo (gum-boe): A thick, robust soupy-stew thickened with roux, okra or filé Honte (hont): Embarrassed or ashamed Jambalaya (jum-bo-lie-yah): A rice dish with any combination of beef, pork, chicken, sausage or seafood Joie de vivre (jhwa-da-veev): Joy of living Lache pas la patate (losh-pa-la-pa-tot): Don’t drop the potato or don’t give up Lagniappe (lahn-yop): Something extra Laissez les bons temps rouler (lay-say-lay-bohn-tohn-roo-lay): Let the good times roll. Macque Choux (mock-shoo): A dish made by scraping young corn off the cob and smothering the kernels in tomatoes, onion and spices

Allons (al-lohn): Let's go Allons danser (al-lohn-dahn-say): Let’s dance Andouille (ahn-do-ee): A coarse-grained smoked sausage Bayou (bi-yoo): A marshy outlet Bébé (beh-bay): Baby Bon (boh-n): Good Boudé (boo-day): Pout Boudin (boo-dan): Cooked pork, rice and seasonings stuffed in sausage casing Bourré (boo-ray): A trick-taking Cajun card game Ça c’est bon (sa-say-bohn): It’s good Cha-chut (sha-shoot): A Cajun word to describe anything you don’t know the name of Cher (sha): A Cajun term of endearment Cher Bébé (sha beh-bay): Darling baby or oh, how cute! Chevrette (she-vret): Shrimp Cocodril (ko-ko-dree): Alligator Cochon de Lait (coo shawn duh lay): A suckling pig roast Couche-Couche (koosh-koosh): A Cajun breakfast hot cereal made by frying cornmeal and topping it with milk and/or cane syrup

Mais (meh): But. Mais non means no, mais oui and

mais ya means yes Minou (mee-noo): Cat or kitten

Mirliton (merl-uh-tawn or mel-e-tawn): Green, bumpy, pear-shaped squash known elsewhere as chayote Nonc (nonk): Uncle Parrain (pa-ran): Godfather Pa-tot (puh-tot): A little chunky baby Pauvre Bête (pawv-bet): Poor thing Pedro (peedro): A Cajun card game Petite (pe-teet): Small Pirogue (pee-row): A Cajun canoe Ro-day (row-day): Run around town, to run errands Tante (taunt): Aunt Ti (tee): This Cajun equivalent of ”junior” is placed before the name instead of after. The feminine version is ’tite (teet) Tooloulou (too-loo-loo): crab Veiller (vay-yay): To spend the evening talking with friends Zydeco (zi-de-co): Creole dance music that’s a mix of traditional Cajun dance music, R&B and African blues

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