More Yat-isms
Apr 3rd, 2008 by Nola
Pete picked up my Yat post from Monday and added to it. I am keeping the ball in the air with this post.
Growing up in New Orleans, that NOLA accent was just a part of life. We weren’t true Yat’s–we never lived in St. Bernard Parish (“da Parish”) nor the Ninth Ward. But there were some things, some words, we mutilated and I didn’t even know it until I moved out of state for a year. For example, the days of the week are NOT pronounced: Mondy, Twosdy, Wensdy, Thursdy, Fridy, Sa’rdy, and Sundy. And the “h” is not silent in “Houston” and “human.”
My uncle and grandfather, however, were on a whole ‘nother playing field. They were construction workers and worked with a union. They would work with folks that called themselves Smitty and Fritz and Junior. My uncle and grandfather made a sport out of talking the way they heard it spoke “at the office.” And they’d even spell it for you. For example, my uncle would say (and spell) the following for your edification: The goil in the poiple dress was moided outside Soivice Moichindise (translation: the girl in the purple dress was murdered outside of Service Merchandise).
They got a big laugh out of talking this way. But then it stuck. Even my uncle’s name fell victim. His name is Merlin and we call him Mernie. Except when his father says it, it comes out Moinie.
So for years, my family has enjoyed my uncle and grandfather saying such things as “berl “instead of “boil.” My uncle even has an apron that his daughter gave him to use when boiling seafood that reads, “Berlin’ Merlin.”
So although we are not true Yats, my family has certainly embraced our inner Yat all the same.
Sometimes I wish I had more of a NOLA accent. I’ve been in NOLA since I was 2, but I got nothing other than a “y’all.” According to my friends, however, I have a slight twang when they call me at home. Maybe I’ll just start practicing it. haha
Do not underestimate the geographic transcendency of the Yat. Yat is as Yat does.
Just curious — could it considered at all derogatory to be or to call someone a yat? Where I’m from (Jersey) being called a guido can be either a source of pride or a slur, depending on the context. Just wondering if yat is similar in that way.
I loved listening to my southern grandparents and great-aunts and uncle talk… it was like hearing an entirely different language. My father’s side of the family were damn Yankees and I still don’t understand half of what they say. =)
say wah ha?
Those accents are a bit out there!
lol. i looove making my NO friends use their accents! i def. dated this NO dude once b/c i loved his so much. he was cute but the accent sold me!
Did you and Moinie eat erstahs together?
I love the NO accent. But I hate fake ones. ‘Deja Vu’ drove me nuts. LOL
(Back from my days in Louisiana) I recall spending hours trying to find someone working at the “Horse Pilla” (what I believed to be a craft store). When I finally stopped at the service station to get clarification the guy says, “You been talking to them creole’s aincha? You’re looking for the Hospital.”
How old were you when you learned that outside of New Orleans, we “go food shopping” intead of “making groceries”? I had to quickly adopt that phrase, and stop calling the neutral ground “the median” in order to blend in…
Melissa, some folks are very proud to be Yats, others would be offended if you called them a Yat. One major city of Yatdom is Chalmette. You can call them Yats or you can call them Chalmations. Further “down the road” is a city called Violet. DO NOT call them Violations. Just sayin’.
Ivy, yes Moinie and I eat erstahs! Ha!
Moondance, we never used the expression, “making groceries.” But I thought Schwegmann’s were everywhere growing up. I still call what everyone calls medians “neutral grounds.” Oh, and I get a brake tag, not an inspection sticker.
Don’t forget the Yat subset of Ya’ Boys. I always assumed that Chalmation referred to the female of the St. Bernard species, and maybe, even though they can be found throughout the city, the males were more properly referred to as Ya’ Boys.
I am now informed by a St. Bernard Katrina refugee who settled in St. Tammany (a St. Tammanard) from Meraux that males and females are called Chalmations, and she thought Ya’ Boy was strictly a 9th Ward thing.
I asked her to clarify whether someone from Meraux (just east of Chalmette) was also a Chalmation. She said yes, but when you start getting further down towards Violet, you can’t say that anymore.
So I asked if she considered herself a Chalmation, she said, “Absolutely.” Then, I asked if she was a Yat—she’s got no accent, mind you—but I asked just in case. “No, but my sister is,” she said. “She’s talks Yat.”
The one that gets me is the expression to be somewhere “for 8pm.” I do not understand this. I have class AT 8pm, not FOR 8pm.
Just saying.
My son says, “Goil”!! Now I will think of you everytime I hear it!
Wha? Huh? You mean people don’t talk like that everywhere? Man, I just had my shock for the day.
I am proud to say that I do not have this so called NOLA accent. I talk all normal like. I guess that comes from being learned in the Orleans Parish school system. You know, where they learn you some good English. I got me a good edmucation.
Making groceries comes from the French. The word “faire” means “to make” but the French put it when they are doing something. Or at least, that is what I remember from my French lessons. And I just made groceries dis morin’