New Orleans Terminology and Speech
What's a Yat?
"Yat" is a term for the quintessential neighborhood New Orleanian. It's derived from the local greeting, "Where y'at!", although it tends not to be used by locals in the way it's used by outsiders. It's come into casual acceptance, although the acknowledged expert on local speech, Bunny Matthews, hates the word and considers it a pejorative. Bunny himself refuses to use the word "Yat" to describe either locals or their speech. Still, it's one of the best descriptions of localness he's ever written: For those of you unfamiliar with New Orleans culture, a good place to start is that there are basically only two kinds of people in New Orleans. The first is those folks that live, as one [of Bunny's] cartoon characters puts it, in Gatorland -- "Yeah, you know ... ova dere across Magazine where dey all wear dem shoits wid lil' gators on 'em." Otherwise knows as Uptown, you can tell folks from Gatorland in the cartoons because they speak English. Another clue is that all skinny people are from Gatorland, although not all people from Gatorland are skinny. And they often have 59 rows of teeth. The other kind of New Orleanian is Everyone Else, dose folks dat talk normal. Be they Black, White or Creole, whether they live right in the backyards of Uptown or way out in da Ninth Ward, Chalmette, or even across da River, they are united in the fact that their homes and lives have not been renovated, that life is the same as it's always been, only worse. The best generic term for Everyone Else is "Yat", a word too often limited by its etymology so that it refers merely to those who greet you with "Where y'at?" most often. Yat is actually much broader than this; it is a state of mind. Unlike the Gatorlander, who is always consumed with the particulars of trying to live the modern life, the Yat is convinced that modernity is a disaster. Naturally enough then, the Yat feels most alive in the most disastrous of circumstances. The average New Orleanian housewife, as Bunny once noted, has an internist's working knowledge of every possible disease that can be caught in these parts. The man who holds the attention of the barroom is the guy who can top everyone else's hard luck stories. The Great Flood of May 3, 1978 was the most exciting of recent times, at least until another Hurricane comes. Even Carnival is talked of by the Yat in the most matter-of-fact ways, only the abominations of tradition being noteworthy. A few words on New Orleansese: in a city whose very name is pronounced in nearly 100 different ways by its citizens, all the way from the filigreed, nearly five-syllable "Nyoo Ahhlyins" to the monosyllabic grunt of "Nawln'", it takes a very sensitive ear, not to mention years of practice, to pinpoint the incredible binds the native speaker encounters, those specific words where the slow tongue gives up and makes a leap of faith. For those who have never heard it, you must begin by imagining Brooklynese on Quaaludes. The dialect changes, too, within the City, from Schwegmann's to Schwegmann's. Each neighborhood has its own input to the living language. But mostly, the local dialect is one of inflection. Whether it's a "you" or a "ya" or a "y'", whether there is time for a "th" or only a "d", all depends on the placement of the word in the phrase, where the accents fall. Some folks wonder aloud why [Bunny's cartoon] characters are often so fat and ugly. Strange question to ask when a little neutral observation reveals that 99 percent of native New Orleanians are both overweight and unpleasant to look at. Of course, it's the diet. The food in New Orleans is the best in the world, but light it ain't. Like the character who exclaims, "It ain't da seafood dat makes ya fat anyway -- it's da batta!" ... carefully ignoring the fact that he eats the better part of a whole loaf of French bread with every half-dozen oysters. Obesity and facial dots seem a small price to pay for such pleasure -- me, I'll take the food. -- by Tim Lyman
A note on pronunciation
I've tried to reproduce phonetic spelling of New Orleanian words and places as best as I could. The "@" character will be used to represent the schwa, or neutral vowel sound (represented in dictionaries and IPA as the upside-down "e"). The syllable of major stress will be capitalized, and the syllable of secondary stress will be preceded by an apostrophe. New Orleanians tend to stress the first syllable of most words and place names. One major point of pronunciation with locals is to never pronounce words that end in "er" or "ing" as spelled. Examples: trailer = trailuh (or "traila"), border = borduh, driver = drivuh, etc.. The "ing" words are always pronounced without the "g". Examples: swimming = swimmin, looking = lookin, walking = walkin, etc.
A Lexicon of New Orleans Speech
ALGERIAN - Someone from Algiers (the only part of the City of New Orleans to lie on the West Bank). Some locals say "Algereens". ALLIGATOR PEAR - Avocado ANYWAYS - And, then; and, so ARABIAN - Someone from Arabi, in St. Bernard Parish. AWRITE - The appropriate response to the greeting "Where y'at?" Also, a greeting in and of itself: "Awrite, Ed!" AWRITE, HAWT - A female response of agreement AX - Ask BANQUETTE - The sidewalk. Pronounced <BANK-it>. Usage fairly rare nowadays BAT'TROOM - A room in the house where one doesn't find bats, but where one bathes, attends to the elimination of bodily waste, or locks oneself in and cries until one gets one's way BERL - To cook by surrounding something in hot, bubbling 212°F liquid; the preferred method for cooking shellfish. BINHAVIN, BEEN HAVIN' - To have had something for a long time, as in ... Q: "How long ya had dat dress? A: "Oh, I binhavin dat." BINLOOKIN, BEEN LOOKIN' - To have searched for something for a long time, as in "I binlookin f'dat book." BOBO - A small injury or wound BOO - A term of endearment, frequently used by parents and grandparents for small children, even small children who happen to be 40 years old ... BRA - A form of address for men, usually one with whom you are not acquainted. Usually used in this manner: "Say, bra ..." BRAKE TAG - An inspection sticker on your car, proof that you've passed the required annual safety inspection. It encompasses several areas of your car (e.g., horn, wipers, etc.) but is primarily concerned with the integrity of your brakes. Given the fact that New Orleans is surrounded by various lakes, rivers and canals, a bad set of brakes could mean that you might end up at the bottom of one of those bodies of water at the very least. Throughout New Orleans (although I'm not sure about other parts of Louisiana), the inspection sticker is called a "brake tag". If it's expired and you get pulled over, you're guaranteed to get a ticket. BY MY HOUSE, BY YOUR HOUSE, etc. - Analogous to the French terms "chez moi", "chez toi", etc. Usage: "He slept by my house last night." "At" is never used in this sense. CAP - A form of address for men, usually ones with whom you are not acquainted. Women generally do not use this term. CATLICK - The predominant religion in New Orleans. And, according to some Baptists, all Hell-bound CEMENT - A standard English word, but with a special pronunciation. Locals say <SEE-ment>, not <s@-MENT>. CHALMETIAN, CHALMATION - Someone from Chalmette, a city in St. Bernard Parish that's part of the New Orleans "metro area". Occasionally used as an insult. (Many New Orleanians have a low opinion of Chalmette.) Out-of-towners often pronounce it with the hard "ch" sound as in "charge". It's more like <shall-MAY-shen> or <shall-ME-shen>, and the city is pronounced <shall-MET> CHARMER - The quintessential female Yat. Pronounced <CHAW-muh> CHIEF, CHEEF - A form of address between men, along the lines of "cap" and "podna". COARDNER - Corner. As in, "I'm going down to the coardner to get me a shrimp po-boy." This is a contribution from native New Orleanian Powtawche N. Williams, who says, "My family in the 7th Ward uses it all the time." CUSH-CUSH, KUSH-KUSH, COUCHE-COUCHE - An old French/Cajun breakfast dish my grandmother used to prepare. The words rhyme with "push", and it is prepared by browning or searing cornmeal in an oil glazed pot till light brown, then served hot with sugar and milk in a bowl, just like cereal. DA - The. DAT - That. DAWLIN' - A universal form of address. Women use it to refer to both sexes, men use it toward women DEM - Them DERE - There. As in "Dere ya go!", an expression of encouragement or acknowledgement of having done something for someone else. DESE, DOSE - These, those DIS - This DODO, MAKE DODO - Sleep. From the Cajun French "fais do do", or "make sleep". In Acadiana, the term "fais do do" is used for a Cajun dance, and is thought to have originated when the parents would tell their kids to hurry up and "fais do do" so that they could go to the dance; alternately, it's said that the hosts of the house dances (bals de maison) would have a separate room for parents to put their small children, and the lady watching them would keep singing lullabyes and saying "fais do do" so that they could sleep amidst the din of the dancing Cajuns. DOUBLOON - A coin, approximately the size of a silver dollar, minted on a yearly basis by the various Mardi Gras krewes. The standard type is made of aluminum and they're thrown from Mardi Gras floats by the parade riders. The distinctive sound of a doubloon hitting da cement is enough to start a mad scramble, where you're likely to trample on an old lady, or alternately be trampled by an old lady. EARL, ERL - 1. A vegetable product used for cooking, making roux, etc. 2. A petroleum product used to lubricate the engine of your car. 3. Your Uncle Earl. (Most New Orleanians have an Uncle Earl; I do.) ELLESHYEW - Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. Occasionally preceded by the term, "Go ta hell ..." ERNGE, URNGE - An orange-colored citrus fruit ERSTERS, ERSTAS - Oysters ESPLANADE - Walkway. The street name is pronounced <es'-pl@-NADE>, and the last syllable rhymes with "raid", not "rod". FAUBOURG - A suburb or outlying neighborhood, as in Faubourg Marigny. Usually pronounced <FO-berg> by natives. FLYIN' HORSES - Accented on the first syllable. A merry-go-round, sometimes specifically describing the merry-go-round in City Park, but also used in general. FOR - a preposition used by New Orleanians instead of "at" or "by" when referring to time. E.g., "Da parade's for 7:00, but we betta get dere for 6 if we wanna find pawkin'." This one tends to be particularly confusing to non-natives. F'TRUE - Pronounced <f@-TROO>. When phrased as a question, it means "Is that so?" or "Ya kiddin'!!". When phrased as a statement, it's an affirmation, a shortened version of "Nuh uh, I ain't lyin' ta ya ..." GAWD - A supernatural deity, worshipped by most New Orleanians. GO CUP - A paper or plastic cup for consumption of alcoholic beverages out on the street, as open glass containers are illegal. As a Bunny Matthews bartender character once said, "Here, cap -- I gotta give ya dis beer in a cup, 'cos da City Council passed dis law sayin' I can go ta Angola fa serving ya a beer in a goddamn beer can ..." GOUT - Pronounced <GOO>. French for "taste." Usually applied to coffee. As in, "You want a little gout?" Mostly old people are the only ones still saying this. GRIP - A small suitcase, usually not a hard-shell one, more like a schoolbag or an overnight bag. Other locals have used this to refer to all types of suitcases. "Don't fo'get ya grip!", says ya mamma, as you're leaving the house. GRIPPE - The flu GRIS-GRIS - Pronounced <GREE-GREE>. Noun. HAWT - A term of endearment used primarily by local females. HEY, BAY-BEE! - Pronounced <hey, BAAAAAAAY-bee> with the "BAY" drawn way out. A greeting between any two people of either gender HICKEY - A knot or bump you get on your head when you bump or injure your head. Everywhere else in the world a hickey is what you get on your neck after necking. Not in New Orleans. HOUSE COAT 'N CURLAS - The preferred dress for charmers while shopping at Schwegmann's. HUCK-A-BUCKS or HUCKLE-BUCKS - Frozen Kool-Aid in a Dixie cup. A way to keep cool during the summer. I'LL TAKE ME A ... - May I have a ... INKPEN - A ball-point pen, or any kind of pen, really. Always heavy emphasis on the first syllable ... "Lemme borra ya INKpen, awrite?" INSURANCE - Pronounced <IN-sure-ence> JAWN - The most popular boys' name in English, pronounced this way among Localese-speakers. Also, a pot ta pee in. Rhymes with "lawn". K&B, KB, KB's - A local drug store for decades, beloved by locals, whose trademark color was a deep, violent purple. Everything in KB was purple, from the price tags to the ink pens (and their ink) to the managers' and cashiers' vests. In the old days, K&B used to have lunch counters and soda fountains, but these were all gone by the time I was in high school in the mid- to late 70s. Also in the old days, there were radio and TV jingles for K&B, the lyrics of which were, "Look on every corner and what do you see? A big purple sign that says 'Your Friendly K&B!'" In schoolyards, the lyrics were often changed to have the big purple sign say something uncomplimentary and/or obscene. "K&B" stands for "Katz and Besthoff". K&B PURPLE - A particular shade of purple that you'll know if you know K&B. Used in phrases like, "He was so mad, his face was K&B purple", or, "I can't believe ya bought dat ugly car! It's K&B purple!" LOCKA - Where you hang your clothes, analogous to the English word "closet". Example: "Mom-MAH! Where my shoes at?" "Looka in ya locka!" LOOKA - The imperative case of the verb "to look". Usually accompanied by a pointing gesture. Often used as a single exclamation: "Looka!" LOOKIT DA T.V. - To watch T.V. Locals don't watch T.V., they look at it. Oh, and in proper Localese form, it's pronounced <TEE-vee>, emphasis on the first syllable. MAKE GROCERIES, MAKIN' GROCERIES - To do grocery shopping. Thought to have originated with the French expression for grocery shopping, "faire le marché". The verb "faire" can mean either "to do" or "to make", and the idiom may have been mistranslated. MARDI GRAS - This grand pre-Lenten celebration for which New Orleans is famous is pronounced <MAW-dee GRAW> MAW-MAW - Ya grandma MAW-MAW - Ya grandma MIRLITON - A vegetable pear or chayote squash, which grows wild in Louisiana and in backyards throughout New Orleans. Pronounced <MEL-lee-tawn>, and wonderful when stuffed with shrimp and ham dressing MYNEZ - Mayonnaise NEUTRAL GROUND - The grassy or cement strip in the middle of the road. The terms "median" and/or "island" are NEVER used in New Orleans. Use of one of those foreign terms instead of "neutral ground" is a dead giveaway that you ain't from around here, or anywhere close. If you're lucky, you live on a street with a neutral ground big enough to play football on. NEW ORLEENS - The way silly tourists pronounce "New Orleans". Natives do not do this. Exception -- song lyrics, as in "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans", for example, and when omitting the "New", as in "Orleans Parish", which is always pronounced <or-LEENS>. NUTTINONIT - A po-boy that is not dressed, which only contains the main ingredient(s) ON DA WES' BANK, ACROSS DA RIVUH, OVA DA RIVUH - On the West Bank of the Mississippi River, where such places as Algiers, Gretna and Marrero lie. Interestingly, the West Bank is due south of New Orleans OVA BY - A general replacement for the prepositions "at" and "to", particularly when referring to someone's home, or a destination in general. "Where ya goin'?" "Ova by ma mamma's." PARISH - A Louisiana state administrative district, analogous to the American "county". When used by locals in the phrase "da parish", it generally means St. Bernard Parish specifically, which is suburban to New Orleans. PARRAINE - Pronounced <PAH-ran>. Your godfather PASS BY - To stop at a place, for a visit or to accomplish something. "Ya gonna be home later? I'll pass by ya house." It doesn't mean just to drive by in your car and keep going ... PASSION MARK - The little red mark you get on your neck (or elsewhere) after a passionate session of necking. Called a "hickey" or a "love bite" everywhere else, apparently. Pronounced <PASH'n mawk> PECAN - A nut indigenous to the South, and beloved in New Orleans as an ingredient in pies and pralines. Pronounced <p@-KAWN>, not <PEE-can>. PO-BOY - The quintessential New Orleans lunch, a sandwich on good, crispy New Orleans French bread. This definition doesn't begin to describe what a po-boy is all about, so if you really don't know you need to get one soon. PODNA - A form of address for men, usually for ones with whom one is not acquainted. Frequently used in the emphatic statement, "I tell you what, podna ..." PRALINE - A sugary Creole candy, invented in New Orleans (not the same as the French culinary/confectionery term "praline" or "praliné") The classic version is made with sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and pecans, and is a flat sugary pecan-filled disk. There are also creamy pralines, chocolate pralines, maple pralines, etc. Pecan pralines are the classic, though. REGULAH COFFEE - Not "Black Coffee" as in the rest of the country. "Regular" includes lots of sugar and cream. To drink black coffee in New Orleans will cause people to look at you as though you are from another planet. As a Café du Monde waiter was quoted in a Bunny Matthews "F'Sure!" comic strip, admonishing a tourist who had ordered black coffee, "Lissen cap ... I gotta tell ya, nobody drinks dis kinda cawfee black. SCHWEGMANN'S BAG - A unit of measurement. Approximately 3 cubic feet. Derived from local icon Schwegmann Brothers Giant Supermarkets, who until recently had absolutely enormous paper bags in which they packed ya groceries. (Now they have those stupid tiny flimsy plastic bags just like everyone else.) Usage: "Hey, did ya catch a lot at da parade?" "Yeah you rite ... a whole Schwegmann bag full!" The apostrophe-s is optional. SHOOT-DA-CHUTE - A playground slide SHOW, DA SHOW - The cinema. The movie house. The local motion picture emporium. Where works of cinematic art (or crappy flicks, depending) are shown. True New Orleanians never say, "I went to the movies", they say "I went to da show." SILVER DIME - A small coin of U.S. currency, worth ten cents. Always pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, <SIL-vah dime>, even though they haven't been made of actual silver for over 35 years. SKEETA HAWK - Or, "mosquito hawk", the local name for a dragonfly. SOSSIDGE - A meat preparation, made of various kinds of ground meats, seafood and spices, stuffed into a casing. Usually spelled "sausage" by English speakers, but pronounced in New Orleans as you see here, always <SAH-sage> and not <SAW-sage>. SUCK DA HEAD, SQUEEZE DA TIP - The technique for eating crawfish. If you've never done this, have someone demonstrate. SUG - A term of endearment used primarily by Yat females. Pronoucned <SHOOG> with a soft "oo" as in "book". SWEATS - A sub-species of New Orleanian; early teens to late 40s, even, with unkempt appearance, dirty hair, heavy metal or biker t-shirts, droopy-eyed, low-intelligence, usually stoned, occasionally hostile. Preferred term of address, "Say, bra ..." Other terms for sweats, depending on your generation and neighborhood, are "loads" or "say-bras". In my day they were known to be fond of Cheech 'n Chong (which they pronounce CHEEK an' Chong) movies at the Chalmette, Lake Forest Plaza and Village Aurora Cinemas. Prone to ask brilliant questions like, "Say bra ... what time da midnight movie starts?" (This question was once actually asked of me, back when it was my lot in life to have been an usher at the Village Aurora Cinema in Algiers. You can't make stuff like this up. And a new one was contributed by Gumbo Pages reader Larry Beron: "A friend of mine went to the Rally's at Vets and Bonnabel in Metairie and overheard the driver of the car ahead of him ask the drive-up clerk, 'Say bra ... how many meats y'all put on them double-cheeseburgers?'") "THROW ME SOMETHIN, MISTA!" - The traditional (nay, required) request of a Mardi Gras paradegoer to a Mardi Gras parade rider, so that the rider will shower said paradegoer with cheap trinkets like beads, doubloons or cups (actually, the cups are highly coveted, more so than the doubloons are these days, apparently). TURLET - Ya standard flushable porcelain waste disposal unit found in every bat'troom, referred to by English speakers as a "toilet". Also good for gettin' rid of nasty food ya snuck away from da table as a child (like ma mamma's roast beef ... yuck. That lady makes heavenly crawfish étouffée, but she just murders roast beef...) VALISE- Suitcase VIOLATION - A person from Violet, Louisiana, in St. Bernard Parish. WHERE YA STAY (AT)? - Where do you live? WHERE Y'AT! - The traditional New Orleanian greeting, and the source for the term "Yat", often used (primarily by non-New Orleanians, it is said) to describe New Orleanians with the telltale accent. The proper response is, "Awrite." UMBRELLA - A standard English word, but with a special pronunciation. We say <UM-brel-l@>, not <um-BREL-l@>. WRENCH - To clean something under running water. "Aw baby, ya hands 'r filthy! Go wrench 'em off in da zink." YA - You, your YA MAMMA - Your mother. Used in a variety of ways, usually endearing. Also usable as an insult, specifically as a simple retort when one is insulted first; simply say, "Ya mamma." Be prepared to defend yourself physically at this point. YAMAMMA'N'EM - A collective term for your immediate family, as in "Hey dawlin', how's yamamma'n'em?" Spoken as one word YEAH YOU RITE - An emphatic statement of agreement and affirmation, sometimes used as a general exclamation of happiness. The accent is on the first word, and it's spoken as one word YEUHRM? - Do/Did you hear me? ZATARAIN'S - Pronounced <ZAT-@-rans>. A local manufacturer of spices, seasonings, pickled products and condiments. In context, it's used by some as a generic term for either crab boil or Creole mustard, as it "Put some Zatarain's on it," or "T'row a coupla bags o' Zatarain's in da pot." Context is important here; you don't want to put Creole mustard in a seafood boil ZINK - A receptacle for water with a drain and faucets. Where ya wrench off ya dishes or ya hands.
A guide to the pronunciation of local place names
Some tourists come to New Orleans and, thinking that they know some French, will puff out their chests and pronounce local place names in a way that they think will help them fit in and endear themselves to the natives ... only to have the natives look upon them with pity and say, "Where ya from, dawlin'?" Here's a list of the ways the natives pronouce some of our our unique place names -- streets, cities and local features. ALGIERS POINT - You're likely to hear this pronounced as <Algiers Pernt> AUDUBON PARK - Avoid the French pronunciation (which is a good general rule for most New Orleanian place names) of <au-dû-boN> with the nasal "N". The local will pronounce this <AW-d@-b@n PAWK> THE BIG EASY - Avoid uttering this phrase at all costs. Under almost no circumstances would a native ever refer to the City in this way. One major (and baffling) exception: the local music and entertainment awards are called The Big Easy Awards BONNABEL - A major street (and high school) in Metairie. The proper pronunciation is apparently Bon-@-BELL, not BON-@-ble ... although most natives will pronounce it the latter way. BURGUNDY STREET - Pronounced <bur-GUN-dee>. Don't pronounce it like the wine BURTHE STREET - in Uptown New Orleans. Pronounced <BYOOTH> ... sounds like "youth" with a B in front of it. CALLIOPE STREET - Pronounced, believe it or not, <CAL-lee-ope>, and not <k@-LIE-@-pee>. No doubt this particular Greek Muse is barfing up her lunch over on Olympus ... However, the steam organ on the riverboat Natchez that plays music is, in fact, the <k@-LIE-@-pee>. CANAL - Usage is always "da canal". The Industrial Canal, one of New Orleans' main waterways, along with "da lake" and "da river". CARONDELET STREET - Pronounced <k@-'ron-d@-LET>, not <k@-'ron-d@-LAY> CHARTRES STREET - Pronounced <CHAW-t@s> or <CHAW-tuhs> CHEF MENTEUR HIGHWAY - Pronounced <SHEF m@n-TOUR>. Most people just say "da Chef". And although it's U.S. 90, it's not really much of a highway anymore ... "Da Chef" is actually pretty depressing these days. Da Chef ceased to become a main thoroughfare for travelers, and gradually died. (And if da Chef is dead now, one can only imagine how scary Old Gentilly Road must be by now ...) Five miles outside of eastern New Orleans on da Chef is the site of the infamous Jayne Mansfield decapitation. CLIO STREET - Pronounced <CLI-oh>. Also sometimes, by some folks in da neighbahood, as "CEE-ELL-TEN" ... CONTI STREET - Pronounced <CON-tye>. DAUPHINE STREET - Pronounced <daw-FEEN>. Oddly enough, it's not unlike the actual French DERBIGNY STREET - Pronounced <DER-b@-nee> or <DOY-b@-nee< if you're a really hardcore Nint' Wawduh DORGENOIS STREET - Pronounced <DER-zhen-wah'>, secondary accent on third syllable DRYADES STREET - Pronounced <DRY-@ds> EUTERPE STREET - Pronounced <YOU-terp> FONTAINEBLEAU - Pronounced as if spelled "fountain blue" IBERVILLE STREET - Pronounced <IB-ber-'vil>, not <EYE-ber-'vil> MARIGNY STREET, FAUBOURG MARIGNY - Pronounced <MA-r@-nee>, with the "a" sounding like the "a" in "hat" MAZANT STREET - Pronounced <MAY-zant>. Runs through the heart of Bywater in da Lowuh Nint' Ward. MELPOMENE STREET - Pronounced <MEL-p@-meen> MILAN STREET - Pronounced <MY-lan> NEW ORLEANS - This is a sticky subject. There are oodles of ways that the locals pronounce the name of their beloved City. Natives also seem to have an instinctive grasp of what a proper pronunciation is, and can spot it in native speakers outside the City. First off, <new or-LEENS> is generally a no-no. It's like putting a big, red neon sign on your head that says, "I'm not from around here." The two main exceptions are when it's pronounced like that in song lyrics (easier to rhyme, but contributes to the confusion of non-natives) and when "Orleans" stands alone without the "New", as in Orleans Parish. Here are the major standard local pronunciations of the City's name: <new OR-l@ns>, <new AW-l@ns>, <new OR-lee-'@ns> <new AH-lee-@ns>, <nyoo AH-lee-'@ns>. The fabled "N'Awlins", pronounced <NAW-l@ns>, is used by some natives for amusement, and by some non-natives who think they're being hip. Ben Fortson, an Uptown boy, adds, "There are also versions without the final -s, as in Fats Domino's "walkin' to Noo Awlin". The s-lessness is presumably from the French. Also, "Noo Awyuns", with a -y- instead of an -l-, is pretty common in my experience, and kind of interesting from a linguistic point of view. By the way, the shorter versions like Nawlins and Nawlns that you say aren't used much by locals have in fact been used at least by me all my life, for what that's worth. Maybe Uptown is diff'rint." (Yeah, it is, bra ... it's where dey got all dem shoits wid da lil' gators on 'em, and everyone has 59 rows o' teeth!) PLAQUEMINES PARISH - Pronounced <PLACK-@-m@ns> POYDRAS STREET - Pronounced <PER-dr@s> by truly hardcore locals, <POY-dr@s> by everyone else PRYTANIA STREET - Pronounced <pr@-TAN-y@>. ROYAL STREET - Pronounced <RERL>, to rhyme with "pearl". A strong localese pronunciation SOCRATES STREET - In Algiers, across da river. Pronounced <SO crates>, like the word "so" and the word "crates". TCHOUPITOULAS STREET - Pronounced <'chop-@-TOO-l@s>. It's easier to pronounce than to spell. Spelling "Tchoupitoulas" is the true test of a native; if New Orleans was a country at war, you'd ask a guy to spell this to make sure he was on your side, just like in all the old WWII movies. THIBODEAUX - Pronounced <TIB-@-doe> TONTI STREET - Pronounced <TON-tee>, with the "o" sound as in "box" TOULOUSE STREET - Pronounced <TOO-loose> TUJAGUE'S - A venerable French Quarter restaurant, highly recommended. However, some tourists have expressed reticence to go to a restaurant whose name they can't pronounce. All such folks will do well to pronounce it <TOO-jacks> TULANE - Pronounced <TOO-lane>. Never, ever pronounce this <tu-LANE>, or you'll immediately be mistaken for a college student from New Jersey. UGLESICH'S - The best restaurant in the city? Some might say so. Certainly a must for any fan of New Orleans cooking. Anthony and Gail Uglesich operate this tiny, atmosphere-free (but rich in local color) restaurant that's only open weekdays until 4 (you don't wanna be on that part of Baronne Street after dark, no). Pronounced <YOU-gla-sitch-is> VETERANS HIGHWAY - Hardcore locals pronounce this with only two syllables ... VET-tr@ns VIEUX CARRÉ - Pronounced <VYOO ka-RAY>. Literally means "old square", and it means Da French Quarter, the site of Bienville's original New Orleans settlement.