[lit-ideas] Re: Lagniappe/Renee Morel
- From: Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 28 May 2006 14:37:50 -0700
David Ritchie wrote:
But when I go to my Larousse, I can't find "lagniappe." It's not in my
Micro Robert either. Help... Renee Morel...are you still here?
It isn't in Larousse or Robair because it's a creole word.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lagniappe
"dividend, something extra," 1849, from New Orleans creole, of
unknown origin though much speculated. Originally a bit of something
given by New Orleans shopkeepers to customers. Said to be from Amer.Sp.
la ñapa "the gift." Klein says this is in turn from Quechua yapa
"something added, gift."
"We picked up one excellent word -- a word worth travelling to
New Orleans to get; a nice, limber, expressive, handy word --
'lagniappe.' They pronounce it lanny-yap. It is Spanish -- so they
said." [Mark Twain, "Life on the Mississippi"]
Robert Paul
Reed College
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