Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi A small gift presented by a storeowner to a customer with the customer's purchase.
- n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot2. See Regional Note at beignet.
Wiktionary
- n. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. In Louisiana, a trifling present given to customers by tradesmen; a gratuity.
- n. A tip or gratuity.
- n. Anything obtained gratuitously or unexpectedly.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a small gift (especially one given by a merchant to a customer who makes a purchase)
Etymologies
- Louisiana French, from American Spanish la ñapa, the gift : la, the (from Latin illa, feminine of ille, that, the; see al-1 in Indo-European roots) + ñapa (variant of yapa, gift, from Quechua, from yapay, to give more).
Examples
“NEW ORLEANS — In these parts, they refer to it as lagniappe, a Cajun word that roughly translated means “a little bit extra.””
“What we call a lagniappe, a little somethin 'extra.”
License Invoked
“It is the unearnable gift, the divine reversal and sacred surprise, the still small voice that drowns out the din of the maddening crowd, the little bit extra that my Cajun friends call lagniappe, the very thing we "deserve" the least but get anyway.”
The Huffington Post: Cathleen Falsani: Thanks(giving) Be to God
“Just to entertain you, I'll pass on that JR, at L'homme qui marche, seeing "lagniappe" in your last entry, decided to look it up.”
“Baksheesh or whatever they call it; every language has its own word from "lagniappe" to "pishkesh" to "mordida" "h'eung yau" is - am I stereotyping yet or will a scholar back me up?”
“Waller's music, as "lagniappe," while cold chills raced up and down the spines of his hearers -- more or less immune to sensations of that character.”
“Tellem "JOE PARIS" sent you and receive some "lagniappe" with your meal!”
WN.com - Articles related to Ethnic group in Myanmar gears up for war, peace
“Thirty-three teams prepared barbecue and "lagniappe" side dishes for about 1,300 guests to enjoy in the shade of the soaring Live oaks of Oaklawn, home of Don and Peggy Sprabery, who host this event annually to help support the orchestra.”
“Local revelers are expected to come out to party, but raising money for a good cause is more than just "lagniappe," a Louisiana term for "a little something extra.”
“The "lagniappe" gift comes in addition to the $100,000 yearly grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation that was secured by the local program after reaching membership goals and achieving success in its programs.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘lagniappe’.
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Not edible
Things that sound edible but are not (usually). See Liberty's To Eat, or Not to Eat? for more diet food.
cinnabar, dulcimer, belfries, potto, maltha, grapple, loam, rake, tort, pomade, buffalo chip, wedgie and 165 more...
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The Request Line
This is the place to add words you'd like Charles Harrington Elster to pronounce for you!
swingeing, affiant, dahlia, hydrangea, re, clematis, Nabokov, casu marzu, schadenfreudgeon, nefarious, mewl, manteion and 170 more...
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My Little Phonies
Names for the next generation of My Little Ponies. Inspired by Star's list.
juggernaught, flamboyant, cuddly maggot, astrobleme, agroof, windburn, poshlost, crucifer, feedbag, dunderwhelp, nebelwerfer, bliss ninny and 445 more...
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cicatrix
scar tissue
minatory, naira, Cluniac, embracive, prolix, hierophant, timorous, adduce, veracious, dysphoric, sang-froid, vitiate and 414 more...
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truman486's list
Masterbatory Aids
ensorcelled, scintilla, maudlin, lugubrious, frisson, praxis, copasetic, crotch, corollary, bandy, undulating, anthropomorphic and 65 more...
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Tricky Words from French
Loanwords from French -- both established and wet behind the ears -- that are tricky to spell or pronounce properly.
trompe l'oeil, hors d'oeuvre, oeuvre, objet d'art, objet trouvé, contretemps, milieu, métier, mise en scène, mise en place, éclat, faineant and 64 more...
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uberdeb's list
jejune, catholic, pulchritude, activate, lackadaisical, forthwith, anon, lagniappe, convection, lachrymose, enginerd
apgarian like swag, right? Sep 5, 2009
rolig "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"
(courtesy The Online Etymological Dictionary) Feb 2, 2009
reesetee Really? Who'd have guessed.... Oct 29, 2007
chained_bear Wow! This is derived from a Quechua term! Oct 28, 2007
niels Wikipedia cites Mark Twain pronouncing it lanny-yap, but in present day New Orleans it's pronounced LAN-yap, like your local area network is a LAN, and small dogs yap. LAN-yap. Mar 14, 2007
john "Call it a little lagniappe, goodbuddy, that’s Duane Marvy’s way o’ doin’ thangs."
- Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, 1973 Dec 7, 2006
angharad Somewhere between the "baker's dozen" and a bribe. Dec 4, 2006