The word "lagniappe" is really fantastic. It’s a small gift given from a merchant to a customer who’s buying something. "Lagniappe" comes from the Quechua word "yapa".
We have some restaurants near us that give dessert as a lagniappe. It produces a kind of "oooh" effect when you receive it, precisely because you weren’t expecting it (and don’t have to pay for it!).
There’s an interesting podcast about "lagniappe" that was recorded by Slate’s Lexicon Valley. (They produce podcasts about language.) Check it out!
-Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2014 at 6:35 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, English, Lagniappe, Languages, Quechua, Quechua, USA, Words & Phrases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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