Dictionary Definition
lagniappe n : a small gift (especially one given
by a merchant to a customer who makes a purchase)
User Contributed Dictionary
Pronunciation
- /læ'njæp/
Noun
- (southern US and Trinidad and Tobago) An extra or unexpected gift or benefit
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- 1973: ‘Call it a little lagniappe, goodbuddy, that’s Duane Marvy’s way o’ doin’ thangs.’ — Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow
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Anagrams
Extensive Definition
Lagniappe refers to "a small gift given to a
customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase" (such as a
13th
beignet when buying a dozen), or more broadly, "something given
or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure." The word is
used in Trinidad
and Tobago, Puerto Rico,
Louisiana,
Eastern Oklahoma, Southern Arkansas, Charleston,SC, southern and
western Mississippi,
the gulf coast of Alabama, and parts
of eastern Texas. It was also
once in common usage by antiquarian booksellers, without regional
limitation, and is still used by more old-fashioned members of that
tribe.
It is derived from the American Spanish
phrase la ñapa ('something that is added' ). The term has been
traced back to the Quechua word yapay
('to increase; to add'). In Andean markets it is
still customary to ask for a yapa when making a purchase. The
seller usually responds by throwing in a little extra. Although
this is an old custom, it is still widely practiced today in
Louisiana. This custom is also widely practiced in southeast Asia.
Street vendors, especially vegetable vendors, are expected to throw
in a few green chillies or a small bunch of cilantro with a decent
purchase. The Punjabi term for this is "choonga".
History of the American English word
After the Spanish conquered the Inca Empire
certain Quechua words entered the Spanish language. The Spanish
Empire for a time also included Louisiana so there was a
Spanish presence in New Orleans.
In his book Creoles of Louisiana, George
Washington Cable comments on the effects of the Spanish
presence on Louisiana
Creole French: The Spanish occupation never became more than a
conquest. The Spanish tongue, enforced in the courts and principal
public offices, never superseded the French in the mouths of the
people, and left but a few words naturalized in the corrupt French
of the slaves. The terrors of the calaboza, with its chains and
whips and branding irons, were condensed into the French
tri-syllabic calaboose; while the pleasant institution of ñapa --
the petty gratuity added, by the retailer, to anything bought --
grew the pleasanter, drawn out into Gallicized lagnappe.
Though lagniappe is included in English
dictionaries it is used primarily in the region influenced by
New
Orleans (and therefore Louisiana French) culture and so may be
thought of as being more Cajun French
or Louisiana
Creole French than English. This is especially so since the
spelling has been influenced by French.
Mark Twain
writes about the word in a chapter on New Orleans
in Life
on the Mississippi (1883). He called it "a
word worth travelling to New Orleans to get":
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. We discovered it at the head of a column of odds and
ends in the Picayune,
the first day; heard twenty people use it the second; inquired what
it meant the third; adopted it and got facility in swinging it the
fourth. It has a restricted meaning, but I think the people spread
it out a little when they choose. It is the equivalent of the
thirteenth roll in a "baker's
dozen." It is something thrown in, gratis, for good measure.
The custom originated in the Spanish quarter of the city. When a
child or a servant buys something in a shop — or even the mayor or the governor, for aught I know — he
finishes the operation by saying — "Give me something for
lagniappe."
The shopman always responds; gives the child a
bit of licorice-root,
gives the servant a cheap cigar or a spool of thread, gives
the governor — I don't know what he gives the governor; support, likely.
When you are invited to drink,
and this does occur now and then in New Orleans — and you say,
"What, again? — no, I've had enough;" the other party says, "But
just this one time more — this is for lagniappe." When the beau perceives that
he is stacking his compliments a trifle too high, and sees by the
young lady's countenance that the
edifice would have been better with the top compliment left off, he
puts his "I beg pardon — no harm intended," into the briefer form
of "Oh, that's for lagniappe."
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Trinkgeld, balance, bonus, bonus system, bounty, bribe, consideration, decoration, dividend, donative, double time, extra, extra added attraction,
extra dash, fee, filigree, filling, fillip, flourish, frill, fringe benefit, gratuity, gravy, grease, honorarium, incentive pay,
inducement, largess, leftover, liberality, margin, ornament, overage, overmeasure, overplus, overrun, overset, overstock, oversupply, overtime pay,
padding, palm, palm oil, perks, perquisite, perquisites, plus, pourboire, premium, remainder, salve, solatium, something extra,
spare, sportula, stuffing, superaddition, surplus, surplusage, sweetener, tip, trimming, twist, wrinkle