How Many of These Cajun Phrases Do You Know, Louisiana?

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How Cajun are you, Louisiana? Check out our list of Cajun phrases and let us know how many you correctly identified!

What does being 'Cajun' mean?

I turned to the Encyclopedia Brittanica online for this one and they say a 'Cajun' is someone who is a 'descendant of Roman Catholic French Canadians whom the British, in the 18th century, drove from the captured French colony of Acadia (now Nova Scotia and adjacent areas) and who settled in the fertile bayou lands of southern Louisiana. The Cajuns today form small, compact, generally self-contained communities.'

The description in the Encyclopedia Brittanica online goes on to talk about the Cajun patois or dialect, which is the subject of this piece, saying 'Their patois is a combination of archaic French forms with idioms taken from their English, Spanish, German, American Indian, and African American (usually “Creole”) neighbors. Cajun separateness, though often their own preference, was also the result of the prejudice against them.'

Now that we've identified what being 'Cajun' is, I think we can agree that Louisiana has a vibrant Cajun culture that has evolved from the melting pot that is the Bayou State. With that being said, areas of our state pretty much have their own language. What we want to know is how many of these Cajun phrases you recognize. So grab a pen and a pad of paper and keep track of how many you get right!

1. Laissez les bon temps rouler - Let the good times roll

2. Lagniappe - A little extra

3. Lache pas la patate - Don't give up

4. Rapporter - A snitch

5. Bon gré-mal gré - Willy nilly

6. Reste avec - Hang in there

7. Le gros Taupin - A big, husky man

8. La lamenteur, le plaignard - Someone who complains

9. Le gaspillard - Someone who is wasteful

10. Foot moi la paix - Leave me alone

11. Un filet, une goutte - A shot of liquor

12. Des fois - Sometimes