Cajun Humor
- Thread starter tbradsim1
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Carver it's short for Thibadeaux.Bou is short for Baudoin, T is used a lot in Cajun country , meaning little and most times a term of endearment. Screwy ain't it. HaHa
Both very French names.
I know several versions of /ti/ /bo/ (Thibault, Thibauld, Thibaut, Thibaud, Thibeau, Thibeaud) one of which is my own, but I've never encountered any Thibadeaux. That must be a pretty ancient version.
My family and friends usually call me "Thib" /tib/
I know several versions of /ti/ /bo/ (Thibault, Thibauld, Thibaut, Thibaud, Thibeau, Thibeaud) one of which is my own, but I've never encountered any Thibadeaux. That must be a pretty ancient version.
My family and friends usually call me "Thib" /tib/
Thibodeaux is also found down here. There is even on small town named Thibodeaux. All part of the Acadian French who were forced out of Nova Scotia by the English.
Oh yeah. In Vidor especially. For the longest time I've heard people say they're grateful for not being from there. Probably different now anyway. Going to a reunion of folks from the Beaumont-Lake Charles line in November and most of 'em I haven't seen in a decade. I was, for good or ill, not born in Cajun country but farther west in Baytown. I have no trace of the accent but my folks did even after living fifty years away from Sout' Luziana.
The worst parts of the area is actually Port Arthur and Orange, Texas. When people in Vidor go shopping, they go to Beaumont.
I lost my Southeast Texas accent while I was in the Coast Guard. First 28 months was spent in an engineroom working with two guys from Maine.
I lost my Southeast Texas accent while I was in the Coast Guard. First 28 months was spent in an engineroom working with two guys from Maine.
Not really. It's actually "tee", a transformation of the French word "petit" (pronounced puh-TEE) which in fact means "little" and can be a term of endearment (Mon petit=little one).
Until recent moves to re-educate Cajun youth, most Cajuns were illiterate in French and had no idea the origins of words which had become transformed. I once spoke with a Cajun who told me his grandmother used to say "pov bete" if her dog took to limping, and told me "bete" meant "stupid" so she was calling her dog stupid. I told him no you idiot, "bete" the adjective means stupid, but "bete" the noun means "beast/animal". She was saying "pauvre bete" meaning "poor critter".
I've always got a kick out of people trying to translate Grosse Téte - which is a small village to the west of Baton Rouge. Invariably they get it wrong with many thing it means Big Teats. I have also heard Big Nose. Reality is it means Big Head. My father and his family were from the bayou/swamp country and stretched from Grosse Téte south to Port Gibson. Our last name is Gibson and I've been told that their is a connection between our last name and Port Gibson but I've never found written documentation of it.
I still have cousins living in the Bayou Sorrel and Bayou Pigeon area for those of you who may have watched Swamp People on the history channel. People in that area really talk and live like they portrayed on the show.
I still have cousins living in the Bayou Sorrel and Bayou Pigeon area for those of you who may have watched Swamp People on the history channel. People in that area really talk and live like they portrayed on the show.
In French, grosse tète means fathead, not big head. Big Head would be Grand Tète (with the correct accent, grave not acute). Grand Teton (as in the national park and mountain formation in Wyoming)literally means Bit Tit in French.
But Louisiana French (Cajun and Creole, which are not the same by a long stretch) differ from standard French as much as redneck American English differs from BBC UK-English. Think Larry The Cable Guy vs Sir Roger Moore. For example in Louisiana the term beau jocque (jacques) loosely translates to big-guy (in fact it was the stage name of the 6'7" 275-lb zydeco performer born Andrus Espre), whereas in standard French it means handsome-James.
But Louisiana French (Cajun and Creole, which are not the same by a long stretch) differ from standard French as much as redneck American English differs from BBC UK-English. Think Larry The Cable Guy vs Sir Roger Moore. For example in Louisiana the term beau jocque (jacques) loosely translates to big-guy (in fact it was the stage name of the 6'7" 275-lb zydeco performer born Andrus Espre), whereas in standard French it means handsome-James.
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