“Lagniappe is lawful booty.”[62]--[_Louisiana._]
[62] _Lagniappe_, a word familiar to every child in New Orleans,
signifies the little present given to purchasers of groceries,
provisions, fruit, or other goods sold at retail stores. Groceries,
especially, seek to rival each other in the attractive qualities of
their _lagniappe_; consisting of candies, fruits, biscuits, little
fancy cakes, etc. The chief purpose is to attract children. The little
one sent for a pound of butter, or “a dime’s worth” of sugar, never
fails to ask for its _lagniappe_.
158. Laguer vêti pas ka pouend viéx nègues nans cabarets. (La guerre
avertie ne prend pas de vieux négres dans les cabarets.)
“Threatened war doesn’t surprise old negroes in the
grog-shops.”[63]--[_Trinidad._]
[63] Proverbs 158-9 are equivalent to our “Forewarned is forearmed.”
159. * Laguerre vertie pas tchué beaucoup soldats. (La guerre avertie ne
tue pas beaucoup de soldats.)
“Threatened war doesn’t kill many soldiers.”--[_Louisiana._]
160. Lakhé bef dit: Temps allé, temps vini. (La queue du bœuf dit: Le
temps s’en va, le temps revient.)
“The ox’s tail says: Time goes, time comes.”[64]--[_Martinique._]
[64] See Proverb 22. Whether the swing of the tail suggested the idea
of a _pendulum_ to the deviser of this saying is doubtful. The meaning
seems to me that the motion of the ox’s tail indicates a change not of
time, but of _weather_ (_temps_).