Reculer, Culer, Appuyer, Presser, Gargariser, Gargoler, Couloir, Corridor, Remise
Revised post with correct accents for subscribers from feedblitz.
I am going to comment on the above verbs and nouns and how they were used in my Cajun Locale, as I was growing up, in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Again, I reiterate, I am not setting down a norm or rule, because the Cajun language is spoken based on local usages.
“J’compte sur ma memoire pour essayer de vous donner la manière qu’on parlait (parle) le Cajun pendant ma jeunesse, eh bien, il y a des fois que j’peux (puisse) faire des erreurs.” (I rely or count on my memory to try and give you the way we spoke the Cajun during my youth, so, there are times it could be that I do make errors.) “Si vous plait pardonnez-moi de ça!”
(Please pardon me of that!)
Remember, Cajun was not written in those days, so I go by what my brain remembers.
“Reculer” to us meant “to back up, to back, to retreat, to fall back and to draw back”. However, we also used the verb “culer” for such action. In fact, in my area, I was more apt to hear “culer” than “reculer.” When driving “une voiture” (carriage of some sort) we used “reculer” to back up or “aller en recule,” (to go in reverse).
The French noun or adverb “rebours” was heard in my grandmother’s conversation. “Il est parti en rebours plutôt d’advancer.” (He is gone in reverse rather than forward or advancing.)
Many times the English word “back” was used, such as “Y faut que j’back-up (aller back) avant que j’peux (puisse) avancer dans cette boue.” (I need to back-up or go in reverse before I can advance in this mud.)
“Culer” in one French Dictionary takes on a nautical action, such as “to veer astern, or go astern.” Since my locale was away from shipping activities, I never recall hearing that verb used to mean such.
“Cules-toi d’ici (de là )!” (Move yourself from here or there!) If something was in your way, you were told “simplement cules-lé (ça).” (Simply move it (that).) “T’as besoin de culer la chaise de là .” Or “cules la chaise d’ici, mon garçon.” (You need to move the chair from there, my son. Or, remove the chair from here, my boy.)
In standard French I notice where the verb “appuyer” expresses the action of “pushing, leaning, endorsing” or ‘appuyer sur le champignon,’ which literally means to ‘push on the mushroom’ but stands for ‘put the pedal to the metal.’
In our daily Cajun conversations I always heard it used mainly ‘to lean’ on something, both literally and not. We may have used it to mean “to push” as, “appuies ton épaul contre la porte et pousses trè¨s fort.” (Lean your shoulder against the door and push really hard.)
However, to push on a button to activate an action, the verb “presser” was used. “Y faut que tu presses (pousses) sur le bouton, là -là , pour faire cette machine courir (aller).” (It is necessary for you to press or push on this button, there, to make this machine run (go).) “Appuyez votre doigt sur le bouton…” was not heard.
It would sound rather funny to me to hear someone use the above, last expression. Why? I could just see a finger in a leaning position rather than precipitating a pushing action.
When I had a sore throat, my mother would have me “gargle” with warm salt water or perhaps warm water with a drop of Watkin Liniment and a crushed aspirin dropped in the solution. Some Cajuns would use the verb “gargariser” for “to gargle,” however, in my family the verb “gargoler” was used. “Mom j’vas gargoler ma gorge avant que j’vas aller me coucher.” (Mom I will gargle my throat before that I will go to bed.)
A related noun to the above verb is “le gargotant, (le gargoton)” which stands for “throat” or “windpipe.” If a person were to hit you around the adam’s apple, you would hear: “Y m’a frappé sur (dans) mon gargotant, et gardes, ça m’a fait du mal, oui! Enfin, j’ai perdu mon souffle (ma haleine) pour un élan!” (He hit me on (in) my windpipe area, and look, that did hurt me, yes. In brief, I lost my breath for a short time.)
Or I would hear, “Y m’a gargoté équand son bras m’a frappé dans la gorge. Il a pas fait exprès (en exprès), mais quand même, il aurait pu* me tuer avec c’coup là , là !” (He cut my breath off when his arm hit me in the throat. He did not do that on purpose, but however, he could have killed me with this blow, there, there!)
In SF “il aurait pu” is in the past conditionel tense, but we always used it, no doubt with the thought of “if” or conditionel. Perhpas, “if he were to hit me hard enough” was understood??
“Le couloir” (couloire Cajun Dictionary) to me was always “a strainer.” “Mom passait le lait au couloir chaque fois que pâpe tirait la vâche.” (Mom would strain the milk each time Pop would milk the cow.)
In SF “le couloir” can mean “a corridor,” “a passage” or “a lane.” It seems that “le passoire” is used for “the strainer.” I never heard “le couloir” used for “a lane” or “a passage” in our Cajun conversations. We used the nouns “le corridor,” and “l’allée,” instead of “le couloir.”
“Le corridor dans not(re) maison nous apportait une bonne fraiche pendant l’été.” (The corridor (breezeway) brought us a good breeze during the summer.) “Le corridor été usé pour serrer des utiles ou des voitures.” (The corridor (open shed) was used to put up tools and carriages (cars).)
“La remise” was used for a “storing shed,” but generally it had doors, whereas “le corridor” was mostly opened at least at one end. “Mon grand-père¨ usait sa remise pour serrer sa voiture et il avait sa forge dedans ça aussi.” (My grandfather would use the storing shed to put up his vehicle and he also had his forge in it.)
For a side passage, off of a main road, or a passage fenced off from the main pasture for the cattle to get to the main pasture, we used “la manche.” “La manche de terre” was used for a side dirt road off of a main road. “La manche de ch(e)mise” (the shirt sleeve) was used, as you can see it was used as a “passageway” for the arm, leading away from the body of the shirt.
“Une fois on restait dans une maison qu’été situé un peut loin du grand ch(e)min, alors, y fallait prendre un tit ch(e)min terre pour arriver à çulà . On marchait au bout du tit ch(e)min terre pour joindre le transfère d’école.” (One time we lived in a house that was situtated a long way from the main road, therefore, it was necessary to take a little dirt road to arrive at that one. We would walk at the end of the little dirt road to meet the school bus.)
(An after thought: The Cajun sentence structure may have changed in style with the generation that began to attend American schools. I am one of those who was affected by my English education. I tend to pattern my sentences by the way Americans speak English. I believe that my grandparents’ generation and their parents’ and grandparents’ generations constructed their sentences a bit differently due to the fact that they were not educated in English at all. Just a thought.)
CLICK BELOW TO SEE THE QUIZLET SET TO THIS POST
http://quizlet.com/set/310130/
