I learned the meaning of lagniappe as a child. "Give Ma another kiss, lagniappe," my parents would say before my grandmother returned home. If we went to Mr. Morel's store, my sister and I smiled from ear to ear when lagniappe meant a cookie to share. With two cookies for a penny, lagniappe meant an even slower walk home to savor the divided lagniappe..
Lagniappe is a very popular custom in many parts of South Louisiana, a bit extra, especially for kids. 'A baker's dozen' or 13 whatever's is in somewhat the same mold as lagniappe.
When I graduated from LSU, I was flat broke. Since my parents, caught up in their divorce from hell, had left me to fend for myself, I also had a student loan to repay for the last semester's expenses. It wasn't easy, being knocked from my Southern Princess pedestal. When money isn't a problem, it's easy to go to school, smile pretty, and be a dedicated volunteer for various projects. Of course, I didn't realize what easy was at the time. Youth's like that.
But when the car I'd had at LSU reverted to my father, I knew I needed one. After two years of walking to work (I taught school), manipulating clerking jobs some evenings, and a no-frills lifestyle, I'd paid off the student loan and saved enough to buy a Volkswagon, but one without a radio. I'd bargained hard with the crusty old salesman, but he hadn't budged.
So, when it came time to sign the purchase agreement, I saw a radio listed and said there'd been a mistake. I'll never forget how he smiled and said, "Lagniappe."
Strictly speaking, lagniappe is a small gift or something extra at the time of purchase, but the term is popular in every day usage when one does a bit more for someone. If the person asks why, you smile and say, "Lagniappe."
The word and custom entered French Louisiana via the Spanish (1762-1800) during their rule from the word 'la napa' or 'something added.' In turn, the Spanish acquired the word from Quechua, a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes, which, in tern derives from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. Proto-Quechuya remains the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (North, South and Central America) with some 10 million speakers. (Wikipedia)
Like a baker's dozen, lagniappe brings smiles.
Lagniappe is a very popular custom in many parts of South Louisiana, a bit extra, especially for kids. 'A baker's dozen' or 13 whatever's is in somewhat the same mold as lagniappe.
When I graduated from LSU, I was flat broke. Since my parents, caught up in their divorce from hell, had left me to fend for myself, I also had a student loan to repay for the last semester's expenses. It wasn't easy, being knocked from my Southern Princess pedestal. When money isn't a problem, it's easy to go to school, smile pretty, and be a dedicated volunteer for various projects. Of course, I didn't realize what easy was at the time. Youth's like that.
But when the car I'd had at LSU reverted to my father, I knew I needed one. After two years of walking to work (I taught school), manipulating clerking jobs some evenings, and a no-frills lifestyle, I'd paid off the student loan and saved enough to buy a Volkswagon, but one without a radio. I'd bargained hard with the crusty old salesman, but he hadn't budged.
So, when it came time to sign the purchase agreement, I saw a radio listed and said there'd been a mistake. I'll never forget how he smiled and said, "Lagniappe."
Strictly speaking, lagniappe is a small gift or something extra at the time of purchase, but the term is popular in every day usage when one does a bit more for someone. If the person asks why, you smile and say, "Lagniappe."
The word and custom entered French Louisiana via the Spanish (1762-1800) during their rule from the word 'la napa' or 'something added.' In turn, the Spanish acquired the word from Quechua, a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes, which, in tern derives from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. Proto-Quechuya remains the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (North, South and Central America) with some 10 million speakers. (Wikipedia)
Like a baker's dozen, lagniappe brings smiles.
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| (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia) |
9 comments:
What a great word and a great custom too!
I adored that post, Kittie. It goes to show how different regions of the U.S. have such distinct words often unknown to others (such as a Yankee like myself).
I never heard that word before. Sweet story about the car.
That picture is bringing smiles to me!
lovely story. And what a dear, dear word. I will keep that one in my special vocabulary box.
First time I've heard of this word and custom. It's wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing the heartwarming story about the salesman adding the radio. That gave me goosebumps. I've found that it's sometimes the "little extras" that can make someone's day ( :
That's cool. Learn something new every day.
Thanks for sharing! Good luck with the rest of the challenge!
I love the VW story! That was my Lagniappe for the day!
I LOVE this! I'm going to say it to my kids and make then look it up! Thanks for a great post!
This whole post brought a smile to my face. Thank you for sharing it! :D
-Barb the French Bean
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