Proof that "Cajun" = "Brooklynese"

[Natalie Maynor]

Mark Odegard wrote:

> It is said there is a remarkable 'Hoboken' style accent alive in New
> Orleans. The novel, _A Confederacy of Dunces_, by John Kennedy Toole makes
> note of this. This book won the Pew-lit-sir prize, and was widely praised
> when it first came out. It is genuinely funny, but the ending is
> disappointing: the hype, as well as the author's skill, led me to expect the
> grandest, funniest free-for-all since Act II of _Meistersinger_.

I've always thought that at least some of the hype of _A Confederacy
of Dunces_ was a result of the author's being dead.  I didn't find it
as absolutely, totally, mind-bogglingly wonderful as many people seemed
to find it.  In fact, I found some of it downright boring and tedious.

But back to the subject header:  "Cajun" does not equal "New Orleans."
The cajuns settled in rural areas of South Louisiana, not in New Orleans.
The designations used to be simple: cajun = non-New Orleans South
Louisianians of French heritage who came by way of Canada; creole= New
Orleans natives whose ancestors were from Europe.  The "creole" designation
has gotten complicated in recent years.  It's still used by some people to
mean somebody of French or Spanish ancestry who was born in New Orleans,
but it's used by others to mean somebody of African ancestry who was born
in Louisiana.  In either case, however, "creole" does not mean "cajun."
   --Natalie Maynor (maynor at ra.msstate.edu)