Contact: Lea Sinclair, 504-491-5330, [email protected]
MARDI GRAS LINGO
Talking the Talk During Carnival
New Orleans, LA – It often seems as if the Big Easy has a language of its own and that unique vernacular really comes
out during Mardi Gras. Here are some words and phrases you’re bound to hear around town during the carnival season:
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Krewe: a carnival parade organization
Ball: a formal Mardi Gras event or dance held by a krewe
Barricade: steel barriers put up along the parade route by the police department
Captain: the leader of a Mardi Gras krewe
Court: the royal court of a krewe, usually consisting of a king, queen, maids and dukes
Doubloon: aluminum coins minted with a krewe’s insignia and theme
Flambeaux: a torchbearer that lights the way for the parade
Float: an elaborate Mardi Gras display that carries riders and is pulled by a tractor
Go-cup: a plastic cup given in bars or restaurants to take drinks on the street
Indian: African-American men who dress up in handmade, ornate Indian-style costumes
King Cake: a circular cake covered in icing and colored sugar that is eaten and served during Mardi Gras with a
plastic baby inserted somewhere inside
• Ladders: store-bought ladders typically outfitted with seats to allow children a better view of the parade
• Lagniappe: a little something extra
• Mardi Gras Mambo: a popular Mardi Gras song released by the Hawketts in 1954
• Moon Pie: a graham cracker, marshmallow and chocolate treat commonly thrown from floats
• Neutral Ground: the median or grassy strip in the middle of the road
• Rex: Latin for “king”; one of the city’s prominent parades that rolls on Fat Tuesday
• Second-line: a dancing procession with people waving white handkerchiefs or napkins, usually led by a brass
band and/or a person dancing with a colorful umbrella
• Skeletons: costumed participants in “Skull and bone gangs” that march early on Fat Tuesdays
• Throws: items such as beads, cups, Frisbees and doubloons that are thrown from the floats in parades
• Trucks: usually refers to decorated tractor trailers that ride in the Elks Orleanians parade
• Twelfth Night: January 6, the “Epiphany” and start of the Mardi Gras season
• Port-o-let: a portable toilet, usually found on every other street corner during Mardi Gras season
• Where Y’at: the local way of saying “How are you doing?”
Zulu: a famous African-American krewe that rolls on the morning of Fat Tuesday
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