Cajun English
I’ve often heard the term "Cajun French" but I can’t recall ever hearing the term "Cajun English" until I came across the PBS series "Do You Speak American?" Come to think about it, that’s a great way to explain how most Cajuns speak. I know from experience that a lot of the things we say in English don’t make much sense to people outside of South Louisiana. Here are a few phrases that come to mind:
- "Getting Down"
We use this when referring to someone getting out of a vehicle. For example "You gonna get down with me to buy some groceries or you gonna stay in the car?" You may have noticed I skipped an "are" in that phrase. We skip plenty of words too. Most of America interprets ‘getting down’ as dancing or heavy petting. This can be a problem at times as it was for my friend Ryan. He was in Tennessee with his wife, Nichole and her friend, a Tennessee native. Nichole went inside of a resturant and was taking awhile so Ryan looked at his friend and said "She’s taking awhile. I should check on her. You wanna get down with me?" and the friend started screaming at him. She thought he was putting the moves on her! He was able to calm her down but only after Nichole helped clear things up. This is a translated French term.
- "A gum"
This one baffled me.. a friend of mine was stuffing her face with spearmint gum so I asked her for some. "Can I have a gum?" She looked at me like I was crazy. "What do you mean?" "What do you mean what do I mean. I just asked for a gum." "Oh! You mean a piece of gum." Silly technicalities. Mmm now I want a gum.
- "Save the dishes"
I don’t even know how to say this in English. Saving the dishes is what you do after they are washed and dried..like, when you put them in the cupboard. "Put them away" is perhaps how other Americans say it. You can also save the clothes after they are folded.
Here are some other things you’ll hear in Cajun English
- Starting sentences with "mais." Ending sentences with "me"
Mais, I don’t know, me.
- Ending sentences in "no."
You call any, bruh, or no?
- Ending sentences in "yeah."
Man, that hurt, yeah.
- Making an entire sentence into one word
howsyamomanddem? (slurring is required when speaking French)
- Leaving out words or slightly changing the meaning
Where yall gone?
You heard about Holly Beach?
- The use of "Yaille" (ryhmes with pie)
Pooh yaille, Awe yaille
- The use of "tee." Tee means little in French. You can use it in place of "Jr." or in place of "bruh."
Tee-Tom is nuts!
Aw bruh I know. His brother Danny is even crazier.
Ay tee! You better watch it, that’s my cousin.
I believe you can hear some of this in the duck hunting MP3 I made in 2004. And in the video we made in Holly Beach in May 2005. If any of you Cajuns have any more, let me know. I’ll start a big collection and post it on RealCajunRecipes.com as an article 
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Hey there,That Holly Beach video really made me sad knowing all that is gone. I have such good memories of that place. I went there a lot as a kid, and started to go back there in the late 90s while my parents were still alive.Love the blogthanksTroy
Cajun English: Umm, flounder, that’s my best fish! best meaning favorite
Chrissy,Seeing that brings back so many memories and smiles. People still look at me funny when I tell them about “saving the dishes”. But one of the definitions of save is to store away for future use. That’s exactly what we do with the dishes and clothes. They can’t believe it when I show it to them in the dictionary.I remember when I worked at sonic as a cook at Sonic in Kaplan and had to serve the food one day. I told one of the customers that I was not the normal server and when he asked what I did, I told him “I’m a cook, me”. You should have seen the look he gave me. One you don’t have listed is the word “icebox”. Although, I have run into a couple people over the years from other areas that have heard the term.That’s just a few. Mais, I’m done, me. Love,Chad
Aww, I didn’t know it had a suiting definition. That rocks! My friend who’s lebanese and speaks French understands pretty much any of the strange phrases we use. She totally knew “get down” and “saved.” That rocked.I think I talked about you working at Sonic in one of my posts. Mom said you really loved working there.. like she really loved working at Vermilion Cafe. I didn’t know you were a cook. I freakin love Sonic! Did you see one of my posts, though. I ripped them one for their fake Cajun burger. Icebox is a good one! And car porch.It’s nice to see you post
If you remember anymore.. let me kneaux!love,chris
Hey, Chrissy!I stop by every now and then, and I allways feel like talking to ya´ll!Yes, icebox is so cajun!Some other expressions I learned in Big Old Kaplan:Ya´ll = you all, or, you guys. That´s gross = disgustingAnd beaucoup much more I don´t recall right now!And I have to admit, I thought the right verb to “save” the dishes was… save the dishes! hehehheLove, Sue
Chris;
I recall my grandma telling me to ‘pass’ a broom in the kitchen when we finished eatin’ blue tips in 1977. I was visiting my Dad in Leroy. I was 10 & didn’t understand! My Aunt Eunice Marie told me that she meant for me to sweep the kitchen!
BTW…I’m Terry’s husband!
John
Ah, that’s freaking great for the French, we’re speaking the same way… the use of “mais”, and of “no” in the end of sentences -well, we actually say “ou pas”, “tu viens, ou pas ?”
Icebox is common enough i think. My father, who grew up in CA, still says it all the time…i used to as well but moved on to the more California ‘fridge’.
How about “pick up the house” (As in clean up around the house). Or “Catch me that remote there.” ( as in could you please hand the remot to me). And there’s always “Passing a good time”. If I think of anymore I’ll post them!