Having just returned from yet another sojourn to The Big Easy, the NoLa vernacular is still ringing in my ears. First and foremost, you must know that New Orleans is pronounced “noo-OAR-linz” rather than “noo-oar-leans” or “naw-lins.”
The street names have their own special pronunciations. Calliope is “CAL-e-ope.” Tchoupitoulas is “chop-a-TOO-liss.” Burgundy is “ber-GUN-dee.” Marigny is “MA-ruh-nee.”
Food-wise, praline is “PRAH-leen.” The one that confuses me the most, however, has always been muffaletta. Sometimes you hear “muff-ah-LOTTA,” which appears to be the most accepted way to say it. Other times you hear either “moo-fuh-LET-ah” or “moo-fuh-LOTTA.” However I say it, they always know what I mean when ordering one!
Did you know that the median is known as “neutral ground” or that the sidewalk is known as the “banquette?”
New Orleaneans have their own phrases, too. Rather than going grocery shopping, they “make groceries.” Rather than mow the lawn, they “cut the grass.” When a New Orleanean asks “Where y’at?”, it’s the same as asking “How are you doing?” If someone says they’ll “pass by,” they mean they’ll stop by rather than driving/walking on by. You don’t say you were AT someone’s house or someone was AT YOUR house, you say you were BY someone’s house or someone was BY your house.
My favorites are the “erl” words, though. A seafood boil is a seafood berl, aluminum foil is luminum ferl & cooking oil is cooking erl!
Apparently, each neighborhood has its own special way of speaking, but I’m not skilled enough to be able to distinguish between any of them. This is just a short little post on the things that I remember most.
All I know is that my friend has the most ADORABLE way of saying “water” & “baby.” Now many, many people in New Orleans have called me “baby,” but nobody says it like him! If he could whisper that in my ear every night, I’d be more than happy!