10 Things Cajuns Do That Confuse The Rest Of The Country

When folks outside of Acadiana see animals like crawfish and alligators, they panic, turn and run. When we see them, we fire up the propane burners, start the rice and invite people over to the house for some good eatin'.

If you really want to watch someone from out-of-town lockup, ask them to "raise down the window". Obviously, we know we're asking them to lower the window.

In Acadiana, when it's time to put things away like toys or dishes, we "save them". I remember someone telling me a story once about their boyfriend who wasn't from here. She told him to "save the dog" and he freaked out and thought the dog was dying.

If it's time to cook some burgers on the car porch (more on that later) we pass by the store and pick up some grind meat. I randomly saw a chili recipe on a national website recently, and it called for "1lb of grind meat". Instantly, I knew exactly where this person was from.

When it's hot hot outside, we beat the heat by wearing "short pants". The rest of the Country simply calls them shorts, but to us they're "short pants" or even just "short pant". I mean, isn't that exactly what they are?

One of the most mind boggling things people outside of Louisiana can't understand are our drive-thru daiquiri shops. The most common thing I'm asked by people who aren't from here is "OK, do you guys seriously have drive-thru daiquiri stores here?"

Sure, most people call it a carport, but if you're Cajun it's a car porch. It's a porch where to save your car.

Put a Cajun in Nebraska, Russia or Taiwan, and we're going to get along with anyone around us. To some, it might even be a little suspicious. We like talk and learn about other people. It's just who we are. We respect people enough to want to get to know them. This is something you don't always find outside of Acadiana.

Most people around the U.S. cook dinner in the evenings. Not us, Cajuns "make groceries". We don't actually make the groceries, we just cook them. But, the act of cooking the food and ingredients is "making groceries" to us.

When we make a pass to the store because we're making groceries, when we get there we "get down". Translation = When we go to the grocery story to things to cook, we get out of the car when we get there. That's right "getting down" for us is not what you're probably thinking. "Getting down" means simply getting out of our car to go inside a store or whatever.