What it means everywhere else: Who is that?
What it means in New Orleans: A chant for the New Orleans Saints shortened from, “Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?”
What it means everywhere else: Uh… some kind of bug that lives in mud?
What it means in New Orleans: Crawfish—which is basically the best food in the entire world, and the best kind of party you’ll ever be invited to.
What it means everywhere else: The fairly important organ in your head.
What it means in New Orleans: The best part of the crawfish.
What it means everywhere else: A super painful type of arthritis, sometimes known as the “disease of kings.”
What it means in New Orleans: When you grandma tries to get you to have a little taste or sip of something, she asks you if you want a gout, but the T is silent.
What it means everywhere else: A ball of packed snow that you throw at someone else for…fun?
What it means in New Orleans: A cone full of delicious shaved ice.
What it means everywhere else: Small glass, clay, or plastic objects you put on a string or wire to create jewelry.
What it means in New Orleans: Necklaces thrown at the Mardi Gras parade.
What it means everywhere else: The blanket you have lying over the arm of your couch for chilly days.
What it means in New Orleans: Anything that’s thrown from the parade floats to the crowd at the Mardi Gras parade.
What it means everywhere else: Where all the fun and action is in New Orleans.
What it means in New Orleans: That place you desperately try to avoid because it’s always packed with tourists.
What it means everywhere else: A small religious district with it’s own church and pastor.
What it means in New Orleans: Essentially the same thing as a county.
What it means everywhere else: The place you put your coat and backpack when you go to school.
What it means in New Orleans: Just an ordinary closet.
What it means everywhere else: The only kind you’ve ever seen in a restaurant is made with shrimp… so a shrimp sandwich?
What it means in New Orleans: Just another way to say sub or hoagie, but with way better bread.
What it means everywhere else: Wearing all your clothes.
What it means in New Orleans: All the extra fixings on a po-boy—tomato, lettuce, mayo, etc.
What it means everywhere else: Kind of boring, but still a quick, healthy, portable breakfast fruit.
What it means in New Orleans: Bananas foster that’s just not done being made yet.
What it means everywhere else: An American pop diva who has been in some unfortunate films.
What it means in New Orleans: A term of endearment, like “hon” or “dear.”
What it means everywhere else: Close to my house.
What it means in New Orleans: Actually currently in my house.
What it means everywhere else: Switzerland.
What it means in New Orleans: A highway median.
What it means everywhere else: An extinct flightless bird.
What it means in New Orleans: An abbreviated version of the French verb for sleep, “dormir.”
What it means everywhere else: A type of gun usually used for hunting or menacingly being cleaned by overprotective dads.
What it means in New Orleans: A narrow, rectangular style of house without hallways.
What it means everywhere else: A tool you use to tighten or loosen screws.
What it means in New Orleans: To wash up under running water.
What it means everywhere else: Shrimp made with barbeque sauce.
What it means in New Orleans: Nothing to do with barbeque really. Just shrimp with the heads and tails on in a Worcestershire butter sauce.
What it means everywhere else: The speed you drive, as indicated by the signs on the side of the road.
What it means in New Orleans: Just that… a limit. There’s nothing wrong with going ten or fifteen below.
What it means everywhere else: Something you see in movies—a kind of magic that mostly involves sticking pins in dolls.
What it means in New Orleans: A serious religion and spiritualism that’s still widely practiced today.
What it means everywhere else: To arrive somewhere at the time previously agreed upon.
What it means in New Orleans: Eh… within fifteen or twenty minutes.
What it means everywhere else: A bridge that is green.
What it means in New Orleans: The local name for the Paris Road Bridge, a bridge that is… gray.
What it means everywhere else: A controlled substance that can only be consumed in certain locations by people of a certain age.
What it means in New Orleans: Basically, juice. You can even get it in a to-go cup. Did we miss anything? Share words that mean something entirely different in New Orleans in the comments below!
