The Glossary of N.O. Terms to Know

The Glossary of New Orleans Terms to Know appears at the end of The Second Line. It features 250 only in New Orleans facts, people, places, and terms. Check out a few entries...

7th Ward: Wards are New Orleans city sections that have remained unchanged since 1880. Because most of the people of New Orleans stay close to social and familial roots, some wards have developed particular cultural characteristics. Bounded by Esplanade Ave., Bayou St. John, Lake Pontchartrain, Elysian Fields Ave., & the Mississippi River, the 7th Ward is where many creoles of color have lived since early in the 19th century. Many of these folks (mostly skilled tradesmen, masons, and carpenters) married as close to their own (usually light in complexion) skin tone as possible. For much of the history of the 7th ward, light skin translated into real benefits in educational and employment opportunities, earning potential, and general social status.

Flambeaux: Refers to the men who spin and swing tall poles with two torches atop as they dance, march, and light the path ahead of Mardi Gras parade floats. Here is another street theater performance of social hierarchy. Just as the rich thow worthless doubloons into the crowd, the middle and working class get to throw coins at someone with less than they have. The crowd throws coins at the mostly poor, sometimes homeless men who scramble to pick them up. The torches are so over-full with Kerosene (the flambeaux have to burn all the many miles of the parade route because once the flame goes out, people stop throwing coins) that they leak in flaming drops. You can smell fumes from a block away.

Iko Iko: Though the meaning of this Black Indian chant seems to be up for debate, it is most likely a patois version of the Gambian call and response chant “Ago”, meaning “Listen!” to which the response is “Ame”. An extremely well known song (written by “Sugar Boy” Crawford and covered by The Dixie Cups, The Grateful Dead, Dr. John, and the Neville Brothers to name a few) sings the entire chant. “Iko Iko anay, Jacomo fino a na nay, Jacomo fina nay!” The debated definition of the rest of the chant has been translated s “The jester says kiss my ass!” This was a battle cry.

No…Yeah: The southern English dialect of New Orleans has deep roots in African, French, and Spanish languages. One of the remnants of the multi-cultural influences is the use of extra affirmations or negations to add emphasis at the end of sentences. For instance, “You don’t want to play with me, no.” or “Crazy men speak the truth, yeah.” Rapper Juvenile popularized this linguistic structure with his hit song of 1997, Back That Azz Up, in which he ended each line with the affirmative ‘yeah’; as in “you working with some ass, yeah. You bad, yeah. Make me want to spend my cash, yeah, on that, yeah.”

Stallion: In N.O. Speak, a pretty, tall, fleshy, perfectly curvaceous woman is often referred to as a ‘stallion’ in reference to her flawless pedigree, thick shapely body, and attention grabbing strut. Singer Beyonce and rapper Trina are two perfect examples of stallions. Yes it is objectifying. Yes a stallion is a male horse. But when you see a woman who typifies what men in New Orleans call a stallion, you will know exactly why the word was chosen. In your wildest dreams all you could ever hope to do is hold on tight and enjoy that ride.

Turducken: What would you do if you shot a turkey only to find that it had eaten a duck and that this duck had eaten a chicken? Fry the thing of course! A New Orleans original, turducken is a turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck that is stuffed with a de-boned chicken. Many times deep fried, it is a truly ridiculous and delicious holiday treat. Only in the N.O.!