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| New Orleans Apartment Locator Services : New Orleans |  | Contents | |
| Arts and Culture |
| New Orleans is well known
for its Creole culture and the persistence of Voodoo by a few
of its residents, as well as for its music, food, architecture,
and good times. |
New Orleans is usually pronounced
by locals "Noo Or-lins", "Naw-lins", or
"Noo OR-lee-anns". The distinctive local accent
is unlike either Cajun or the stereotypical Southern accent
so often misportrayed by film and television actors. It is
similar to a New York "Brooklynese" accent to people
unfamiliar with. There are many theories to how the accent
came to be, but it likely results from New Orleans' geographic
isolation by water, and the fact that many of the immigrant
groups who reside in Brooklyn also immigrated to New Orleans
(Irish, Italians, and Germans being among the largest groups).
Unfortunately, this distinctive accent is dying out generation
by generation; it is usually attested much more strongly by
older members of the population. Also notable are lexical
items specific to the city, such as "lagniappe"
(pronounced LAN-yap) meaning "a little something extra,"
or using terms like "neutral ground" for a median.
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The City has the nicknames the Crescent City, the Big Easy,
the Paris of America, and the City that Care Forgot. The city's
unofficial (but commonly touted) motto is "Laissez les
bons temps rouler", translated to: "Let the good times
roll." |
New Orleans created
its own spin on the old tradition of military brass band funerals;
traditional New Orleans funerals with music feature sad music
(mostly dirges and hymns) on the way to the cemetery and happy
music (hot jazz) on the way back. Such traditional musical funerals
still take place when a local musician, a member of a club,
krewe, or benevolent society, or a noted dignitary has passed.
Until the 1990s most locals preferred to call these "funerals
with music", but out of town visitors have long dubbed
them "jazz funerals". Younger bands, especially those
based in the Treme neighborhood, have embraced the term and
now have funerals featuring only jazz music. |
| New Orleans has always
been a significant center for music with its intertwined European,
Latin American, and African-American cultures. The city engendered
jazz with its brass bands. Decades later it was home to a distinctive
brand of rhythm and blues that contributed greatly to the growth
of rock and roll. In addition, the nearby countryside is the
home of Cajun music, Zydeco music, and Delta blues. |
| The city is also world-famous for
its food. Specialties include beignets, square-shaped fried
pastries that are sometimes called French doughnuts (served
with coffee and chicory "au lait"); Po'boy and Italian
Muffaletta sandwiches; Gulf oysters on the half-shell and other
seafoods; etouffee, jambalaya, gumbo, and other Creole dishes;
and the Monday evening favorite of red beans and rice. (Louis
Armstrong often signed his letters, "red beans and ricely
yours".) |
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