The license plate
The license plate on my car reads LANYAP. And it has nothing to do with Local Area Networks (LAN) or talking (YAP). What it does have to do with is growing up in south Louisiana. The French / Cajun influence is very strong in that area of the state, and so there are lots of French words in the volcabulary. One of those is Lagniappe. What is it?
It’s a little something “extra”, or a bonus. Which is exactly how I feel when I get to drive my Corvette. But for a more official definition of the word…
la·gniappe
(l
n-yp
, lnyp
)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana
-
- A small gift presented by a storeowner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
- An extra or unexpected gift or benefit.
[Louisiana French from American Spanish (la) ñapa, (the) gift, from Quechua yapa, from yapay, to give more.]
Regional Note: Lagniappe derives from New World Spanish la ñapa, “the gift” and perhaps ultimately from Quechua yapay, “to give more.” The word came into the rich Creole dialect mixture of New Orleans and there acquired a French spelling. It is still used chiefly in southern Louisiana to denote a little bonus that a friendly shopkeeper might add to a purchase. By extension, it may mean “an extra or unexpected gift or benefit.”