Cajun Glossary

This is a general Glossary of Cajun phrases and terms. Where necessary, the English pronunciations are displayed in the square [ ] brackets. If you’d like to contribute, please contact us.

Cajun Glossary

Allons dancé

Let's dance!

Allons [a-law(n)]

Let's go!

Andouille [ah(n) doo' ee]

Creole sausage

Années passées [a nee pass ay]

Years gone by

Au revoir

Goodbye

Bateau [bah toh]

Flat bottom boat

Baton Rouge [bat n rooj]

Capital city of Louisiana

Bayou [by yoo]

Slow moving stream

Beaucoup [bow koo']

Very much

Beignet [bin yay]

A fried square French donut coated with powdered sugar and served hot with cafe' au lait

Bisque [bisk]

Thick and rich cream soup made from seafood

Bon ami

Good friend

Bon appetit

Good eating!

Bon jour

Good morning

Bon temps

Good times

Boucherie [boo-shuh-ree]

A community butchering which involves several families contributing the animal(s) - usually pigs - to be slaughtered. Each family helps to process the different cuts of meat, like sausage, ham, boudin, chaudin, chops, and head cheese and gets to take home their share of the yield

Boudin [boo da(n)]

Sausage made with cooked rice and seasoned ground pork

Bouillabaisse [boo ya baze]

Creole seafood stew

Bourre' [boo ray]

Cajun card game

Brûlot

Caramelized sugar

C'est la vi

That's life

Ca c'est bon!

That's good!

Café au lait

Even quantities of fresh hot coffee & chicory and warm milk poured simultaneously

Cajun [cay-jun]

Slang for Acadians, the French-speaking people who migrated to South Louisiana from Nova Scotia in the eighteenth century

Cayenne pepper [ky yan]

Hot red pepper

Chachere [sash ree]

Famous Cajun seasoning, by Tony Chachere

Cher

Sweet

Chere [sher ee]

My sweet

Chicory [chick-ory]

An herb, the roots of which are dried, ground; roasted and used to flavor coffee

Cochon de Lait [coo shon du lay]

A "get together" (party) to roast a pig over an open pit and have a good time!

Cocodrie [ko kuh dree]

Alligator

Comme ci comme ca [cum see cum sah]

So-so

Comment ca va?

How are you?

Coonass [koon-ass]

A controversial term in the Cajun lexicon: to some Cajuns it is regarded as the supreme ethnic slur, meaning "ignorant, backwards Cajun"; to others the term is a badge of pride. The word originated in South Louisiana and is derived from the belief that Cajuns frequently ate raccoons. Also may have a negative (black) racial connotation

Couche couche [koosh koosh]

Steamed cooked cornmeal eaten with milk like a cereal

Courtbouillon [coo-boo-yon]

A rich, spicy tomato-based soup or stew made with fish fillets, onions, and sometimes mixed vegetables

Crawfish / Crayfish

"Mudbug" - Crustacean resembling (small) lobsters, served in etouffees, jambalaya, gumbos, boiled or fried

Creole [cree-ol]

Native born inhabitants of French and Spanish descent

Cuisine

Prepared food

Demi-tasse

Small size or half-cup serving of rich coffee

Dirty Rice

Rice dish cooked with seasoned meat, parsley and onions

Écoute [ay coo tay]

Listen

Encore

More, again

Étouffée [ay too fay]

Smothered seafood, Cajun stew

Excuse-moi

Excuse me

Fais do do [fay-doe-doe]

The name for a (street) party where traditional Cajun dance is performed. Ironically, this phrase literally means "to make sleep" - the exact opposite of these lively toe-tapping dances!

Faux pas

Mistake

Filé

Dried sassafras leaf powder, used on gumbo as a thickening agent

Fini

End

Flambeau

Torch with flame

Fricassee [free-kay-say]

A stew made by browning then removing meat from the pan, making a roux with the pan drippings, and then returning meat to simmer in the thick gravy

Fromage

Cheese

Grand [grawn]

Great

Gratis

Free

Gumbo

African word for okra, which is used as a thickening agent in a dark stew of seafood or meat-served over rice

Ici

Over here

Jambalaya [jum buh ly ah]

Well seasoned rice dish with any combination of rice, meat and vegetables, cooked in one pot

Joie de Vivre

Joy of life

Joli

Pretty

King Cake

A ring shaped oval pastry (yeast cake), decorated with colored sugar in the traditional Mardi Gras colors (purple, green and gold/yellow), which represent justice, faith, and power. Contains a plastic baby (to represent baby Jesus) - according to tradition, the person who gets the baby provides the next King Cake

Lagniappe [lan yap]

Something extra

Laissez les bon temps roulet! [lay zay lay bon tom roo lay]

Let the good times roll!

Levee [le-vee]

An embankment built to keep a river from overflowing; a landing place on the river

Maque-Chou [mock-shoo]

A dish made by scraping young corn off the cob, frying the kernels in ol and smothering them in tomatoes, onion, and spices

Mardi Gras [mar dee graw]

(French for "Fat Tuesday") The day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is the final day of the Carnival season

Merci beaucoup

Thank you very much

Mirliton [meer li taw]

Tropical squash, available in the Louisiana area in early fall. Commonly called a vegetable pear or chayote

New Orleans [nu or leens, nu awlins]

Largest city in Louisiana - home to jazz, fine cuisine, the French Quarter and Mardi Gras!

Oui [wee]

Yes

Pain perdu [pan-pear-doo]

(Means "lost bread") French toast; breakfast treat made by soaking stale bread in an egg batter, then frying and topping with cane syrup or powdered sugar

Parish

Dating back to the time of Napolean and a strong Catholic influence, parishes are local political divisions, similar to "counties" in other States. BTW Louisiana is the only State with parishes

Pecan [puh kawn]

Nut

Petit [puh teet]

Very small; tiny

Pirogue [pee row]

A Cajun canoe

Po-Boy

A sandwich extravaganza that began as a five-cent lunch for poor boys. Always made with French bread, po-boys can be stuffed with fried oysters, shrimp, fish, crawfish, meatballs, smoked sausage and more!

Poisson

Fish

Praline [praw leen]

Very sweet candy, made of pecans, cream and brown sugar

Quand

When

Quelle

What

Qui

Who

Rémoulade

Well seasoned sauce

Roux [roo]

A mixture of oil and flour, heated slowly until chocolate brown, found in many Louisiana recipes

Sac-á-lait

Freshwater fish

Sauce piquante [saws pee kaw(n)]

Tomato based, spicy stew

Savoir-faire

Know-how

Tasso

Spicy seasoned jerky used for flavor in cooking

Two-step

Popular Cajun dance

Une

One

Vie

Life

Vieux

Old

Vieux Carre [voo ca-ray]

French, meaning "old quarter," and referring to the French Quarter

Voila

There it is

Zydeco

Cajun music, influenced by Black culture

Gloss Plugin made by: Joe Casabona