Cajun-English Dictionary


A-D

These entries are from several great sources:
Louisiana-French, copyright 1931, William A.Reed, Louisiana State University Press
Gumbo Ya Ya copyright 1945, Lyle Saxon, Louisiana Writers Project
The Cajuns: From Acadia to Louisiana, copyright 1979, William Faulkner Rushton, Farrar Straus Giroux
Let the Good Times Roll! The Complete Cajun Handbook, copyright 1984, Andy Edmonds, Avon Books
Cajun Folktales, copyright 1992, J. J. Reneaux, August House Publishers
Conversational Cajun French I, Ninth printing, 1998, Randall P. Whatley and Harry Jannise, Pelican Publishing Company

addresser- speech
ail- garlic
aime- fond of (in Cajun French aime is used in all but third person plural: j'aime, tu aime, il aime, elle aime, nous aime, ils aimont)
alentours- about
allee- avenue, path
allons- let's go
amarrer- tie,fasten, fix
ame- soul, spirit
americane- american, especially one not from southern Louisiana, or a non Cajun
ami- friend
amicablement- amiably
amollir- milder weather
amour- love (in contrast to Parisian French in Cajun it can be used in the sentence: Etre en amour- to be in love, PFr- Etre amoureux. Also Cajun French- tomber en amour- to fall in love, PFr- devenir, tomber amoreux)
ananas- pineapple
andouille- smoked pork sausage
ange- angel
animaux- domestic animals
anxieux,euse- anxious
Aout- August
araigne- spider
argente- rich
arpent- roughly 192 feet (old French lineal measurement)
arrete- stop
arripopierre-eyelids
asmatin- this morning
assez- enough
aseteur- now
aujourd'hui- today
au revior- goodbye
Avril- April
babiche- mouth (used in phrases such as: une grosse babiche- a big mouth, or Ferme ta babiche- shut your mouth)
bad loque- bad luck
bague- ring
baire- mosquito netting
balan- balancing, posing
bambache- drinking spree
bamboula- a drum of bamboo, a dance performed to the beat of this drum, or making love
banane- banana
banquette- sidewalk
baquet- bucket
barbe espagnole- spanish moss
barbue- catfish
barouette- wheelbarrow
barrer- to lock
bas- stockings
bateau- boat
batiscan- a mild oath equivalent to PFr- sapristi
batistaire- baptism
bayou- sluggish stream in a swampy area
beaucoup- a lot
beau-pere- stepfather
bebe- baby
bebelle- toy, plaything
belle- beautiful
belle-age- a long time
belle-mere- stepmother
berse- rocking chair
betasse- stupid
bete- coy, silent
beurdasser- waste time doing nothing
blague-bladder
boeuf- big, enormous, extraordinary
bon- good
bonheur- good fortune
bon jour- good day
bonsoir- good night
bon temps- good times
borique- fool
boscoyo- protruding roots of a cypress tree
botte- boot
bouchelle- bushel
boucle- buckle
boucle d' oreille- earring
boudin- seasoned rice and pork
bouquet- a single flower
bourre- a Cajun card game similar to poker
bouton- button
braguette- fly of a pair of pants
bras-arm
butin- provisions, household goods
cabane- cabin, shack
caboche- head
cafe au lait- coffee with with equal parts milk
cafe brulot- brandy coffee
caille- songbird
cala- sweetened rice cake, eaten at breakfast
calenas- padlock
canecon- underwear
cap-cap- poor white trash
carabine- excellent, perfect
carabosse- a big, ugly hat
carcul-calculation
carencro- buzzard
carpiche- somersault
cataplame- poultice
catechisse- catechism
catin- doll
ca va- how's it going?
ca va mal- not good, not bad
c'est assez- that's enough
c'est bien- that's okay
c'est bon- that's good, this is good
c'est la vie- that's life, such is life
c'est moi- it's me
c'est tout- that's it, that's all
c'est vrai- that's true
chabec- a type of boat
chacta- small, inferior
chaoui- racoon
charger- charge, fix a price
charrer- chatter, talk
chassis- window
chat- cat
chaut-huant- screech owl
chaud- dear
cheniere- oak grove
cherant- an overcharging merchant
cher- dear, sweetheart, male
chere- dear, sweetheart, female
cherser- seek, look for
chetit- weak,delicate, frail
chevrette- shrimp
chicoter- to whittle
chien- dog
chimeres- foolish ideas
choc- blackbird
cigale- locust
cimitiere- cemetery
clair- clearly, distinctly
cochon- pig
cocodrie- crocodile
cocombe- cucumber
cocotte- hen
colle- praline cake of brown sugar with pecans or peanuts
comment ca va- how has it been going?
cotes- lazy
couche-couche- steamed, moist cornmeal eaten as a cereal
courpion- rump
couter- to cost excessively
criquette- cricket
crocro- badly fitting shoe
croison- partition
crouecignole- dougnut
cu-la- that one
dame- wife
dansante- dancing
degreyer- strip an object bare: a table, a house, etc...
de marrer- untie, unfasten
demoiselle- daughter
depeche-toi- hurry up
depeigner- muss ones hair
dependre- depend on
deux- two
Dieu- God
doutance- doubt
drigail- belongings
dur temps- hard times


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