A couple weekends ago I was in New Orleans for a Save Our Cemeteries fundraiser held in St. Louis Cemetery #3. I'd never been to a party in a cemetery before, though I know they used to be more popular than they are now. I took a night tour and learned about some of the more notable burials. My relatives there were not part of the tour.
Part of the trip that really interested me turned out not to be the destination, but parts of the drive to it. Just north of Opelousas I saw a sign along the road that said, "Cajun hunting dogs for sale." What exactly makes a hunting dog Cajun? When asked to find a duck or squirrel, does it say, "Woof woof, cher! Woof!"?
I had lunch with a friend at Shucks in Abbeville, then told my GPS unit to take me to the hotel across from the airport in Kenner. I expected it to take me back up to Lafayette and on I-10 to New Orleans. Instead, it told me to get on Hwy. 90 and continue for 102 miles. I was very pleasantly surprised. The weather was nice, the road was good, and I passed lots and lots (and lots) of sugar cane. I had somehow believed that 90 tracked basically parallel with I-10, so I was surprised when I looked at the map on my phone and saw the Gulf of Mexico fairly close by. "Where the hell AM I?" I thought.
As I'm sure anyone south of I-10 could have told me, Hwy. 90 curves south, away from the interstate and then back up towards New Orleans. I went past Jeanerette, Franklin, Patterson, Morgan City -- nice riverfront area, by the way -- Raceland, Lockport, Des Allemands, and Hahnville (grrr, Hahnville...).
The town that caught my attention the most was Houma. "Houma!" I shouted in the car. "I haven't been o Houma in twenty years!" I played in a soccer tournament there when I was a teenager. Rusty bridges, weeds, and soccer fields is all I remember. I recent visitor to Melrose gave me some restaurants to try next time I'm there.
The Almighty Internet informs me that taking 90 instead of 190/I-10 adds about half an hour to the trip from Natchitoches to New Orleans. But if you've got some time on your hands and want a different, less stressful drive, I recommend taking 90. It was fun.
I got home in time Sunday to watch the Saints beat a team from north Texas by 32 points. I assume they scrimmaged a college team or some such thing. No NFL team would have looked that bad against the Saints.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Favorite Words
Every now and then my job brings me into contact with people from foreign countries. I try to remember to ask them what their favorite word is in their native language. Assuming English is their native language, I ask for a good slang word instead. What follows is a list of some of the words I've been given so far.
Gezellig (adj.) -- A Dutch* word meaning friendly or social. It can also mean the act or situation of friendliness and camaraderie. Going on a bike ride or hanging out with friends is gezellig. It can also be used in the negative. If someone is acting unfriendly and antisocial, you could say, "Well, he's not very gezellig today, is he?"
* German visitors insisted to me that the word is German. The Dutch guy told me it was Dutch. I'm not arguing.
No'ka'oi (phrase?) -- A Hawaiian phrase/expression that means "number one" (pretty much, as far as I can tell). You would say something like "Rainbow Warriors no ka oi" to say that the University of Hawaii team is the best, or something like that.
(NOTE: The girls who told me this word were gorgeous. GORGEOUS, I tell you)
Oachkatzlschwoaf (noun) -- A squirrel's tail. Two different sets of Germans months apart mentioned this word. It's a southern German thing.
Mysigt (adj.) -- Swedish for "cozy". The "my-" part is a little elongated, and there's emphasis on the second syllable, so it ends up sounding like "myyy-ZIGT".
(NOTE: This word came from a blonde Swedish exchange student)
Lampi Mampi (adj.) -- Finnish for "warmer", as opposed to "cooler". I can't find a search result for this anywhere on Google, so I'm sure the spelling is off. The girl told me the p's sound like b's.
Sisu (adj.) -- This is a descriptive word, though calling it an adjective feels a little inadequate. It's a word Finnish people use to describe the toughness, the endurance, and the guts that it takes to make it through the Finnish winter. We might use a word like "fortitude".
(NOTE: The Finnish guy and girl were two of the coolest people I've met. They were driving from Los Angeles to New York and were going to New Orleans the day before the Super Bowl. I liked them immensely. The girl was worth learning Finnish for.)
BONUS FINNISH WORD!
Aurinkokello (noun) -- Sundial. Aurinko = sun; kello = clock or watch
Hyggelig (adj.) -- Danish for "cozy". The Scandinavians must love their coziness. Sounds like "HOOG-a-lig"
Møjn (adj.) -- Pretty much the Danish version of "aloha", an all-purpose word that means "hi/hello/good day/goodbye". Pronounced "moin", like "coin".
Barbe à Papa (noun) -- French for "cotton candy" (the favorite French word of a Spanish girl). Literally "Daddy's beard"
The most recent word comes with a story.
An Argentinian lady the other day said that Argentinians curse all the time. "Every ten words, nine are bad," she said. She and her husband were watching the weather and the weatherman said, "You may remember that yesterday we said that it would rain in Buenos Aires today. As you know, it did not rain there today. So, you can take your umbrella and stick it up your ass."
She said there is a word that Argentinian men use all the time. When you say it to someone you don't like it's an insult, but when you say it to your friends it's okay. "It is sort of like when men here call someone a son of a you-know-what. If you don't know them it is bad, but when it is your friends it is acceptable."
Her husband wrote it out for me: B-O-L-U-D-O
The Internet says it's used to mean dumb, stupid, a moron, a jackass. The visitors told me it more literally means "small brain, large testicles".
Gezellig (adj.) -- A Dutch* word meaning friendly or social. It can also mean the act or situation of friendliness and camaraderie. Going on a bike ride or hanging out with friends is gezellig. It can also be used in the negative. If someone is acting unfriendly and antisocial, you could say, "Well, he's not very gezellig today, is he?"
* German visitors insisted to me that the word is German. The Dutch guy told me it was Dutch. I'm not arguing.
No'ka'oi (phrase?) -- A Hawaiian phrase/expression that means "number one" (pretty much, as far as I can tell). You would say something like "Rainbow Warriors no ka oi" to say that the University of Hawaii team is the best, or something like that.
(NOTE: The girls who told me this word were gorgeous. GORGEOUS, I tell you)
Oachkatzlschwoaf (noun) -- A squirrel's tail. Two different sets of Germans months apart mentioned this word. It's a southern German thing.
Mysigt (adj.) -- Swedish for "cozy". The "my-" part is a little elongated, and there's emphasis on the second syllable, so it ends up sounding like "myyy-ZIGT".
(NOTE: This word came from a blonde Swedish exchange student)
Lampi Mampi (adj.) -- Finnish for "warmer", as opposed to "cooler". I can't find a search result for this anywhere on Google, so I'm sure the spelling is off. The girl told me the p's sound like b's.
Sisu (adj.) -- This is a descriptive word, though calling it an adjective feels a little inadequate. It's a word Finnish people use to describe the toughness, the endurance, and the guts that it takes to make it through the Finnish winter. We might use a word like "fortitude".
(NOTE: The Finnish guy and girl were two of the coolest people I've met. They were driving from Los Angeles to New York and were going to New Orleans the day before the Super Bowl. I liked them immensely. The girl was worth learning Finnish for.)
BONUS FINNISH WORD!
Aurinkokello (noun) -- Sundial. Aurinko = sun; kello = clock or watch
Hyggelig (adj.) -- Danish for "cozy". The Scandinavians must love their coziness. Sounds like "HOOG-a-lig"
Møjn (adj.) -- Pretty much the Danish version of "aloha", an all-purpose word that means "hi/hello/good day/goodbye". Pronounced "moin", like "coin".
Barbe à Papa (noun) -- French for "cotton candy" (the favorite French word of a Spanish girl). Literally "Daddy's beard"
The most recent word comes with a story.
An Argentinian lady the other day said that Argentinians curse all the time. "Every ten words, nine are bad," she said. She and her husband were watching the weather and the weatherman said, "You may remember that yesterday we said that it would rain in Buenos Aires today. As you know, it did not rain there today. So, you can take your umbrella and stick it up your ass."
She said there is a word that Argentinian men use all the time. When you say it to someone you don't like it's an insult, but when you say it to your friends it's okay. "It is sort of like when men here call someone a son of a you-know-what. If you don't know them it is bad, but when it is your friends it is acceptable."
Her husband wrote it out for me: B-O-L-U-D-O
The Internet says it's used to mean dumb, stupid, a moron, a jackass. The visitors told me it more literally means "small brain, large testicles".
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