[SOC] Anglo-American Translation

[Randall Jouett]

Howdy John,

Long time no type, dewd! :^)

> # CRAWFISH---To back out on something.---"You just watch, he will crawfish out of this."---Crawfish swim backwards when escaping
from something, thus backing out
> became synonymous with crawfishing.


Well, almost. You have to add some aggression to the mix. It's kinda like
this: "I'm going to stomp that dudes butt into the ground the next time
I see his sorry ass around here, guys!" And when the other dude shows
up, the first dude backs down like this: "I'd stick around and fight, but
my wife just called and I have to go home to baby-sit the kids -- but there's
always tomorrow, you frickin moron!" In all actuality, he's backing down
and won't ever show up again. :^).


Crawfishing can be used as you've stated, though, but most people here
in Louisiana use it in a VERY negative fashion. "He isn't going to
show up and play poker tonight, dewds! He's just going to crawfish on
us again and make up some damn lame-ass excuse. To hell with that
idiot!" Also, here in Louisiana, it's time to get down and dirty and start
swinging if a person tells you something like, "You crawfish on just about
anything you say and do, dewd!" That is a big-time insult here, and in some
situations, you might even get taken out the back door and be beat to a pulp.
Anywho,  in all actuality, I doubt that Sadam even realized the level of insult
that Bush was throwing his way! LOL!


Ok. Here's some stuff about Louisana that some folks here might find
interesting. It's a bit off the subject at hand, but it might help others
to understand Louisiana a bit better. If you're not interested, go ahead
and delete/skip this, folks....


The mixture of culture down here makes for some very interesting
food, women,  and situations :^). Cajuns are mainly French, Native
American Indian, and Spanish, with a bit of German thrown in on the
west side of the state (Lake Charles area), and some Irish, Italian, and
a bit of German thrown into the mix on the "West Bank"  of the Mississippi
near New Orleans. BTW, a large number of people in the southeast
portion of Texas around Beaumont are originally from Louisiana.


The "Nawlins" accent is actually a "Yat" accent brought down
from New York City. The Irish, Italians, and Germans came down to
New Orleans and helped to expand the port there in the late 1800s. The
original Italians that were already in New Orleans arrived around 100 years
before that (or so) and came from Sicily. They liked the European feeling and
style of New Orleans.  In other words, it made them feel somewhat at home.


BTW, Cajuns are _NOT_ Creoles. As a matter of fact, the Creoles in and
around New Orleans use to hate our guts up until around 20 years ago. They
decided to "change their minds" when Cajun food became popular around the
country and world, cashing in on the foods popularity. So, if you want to eat
REAL Cajun food, come down to Lafayette, LA. (which is the heart of Cajun
Country). It is MUCH safer than New Orleans, with the crime rate here is well
below that of  the New Orleans area and most of the country.


Cajuns are also a very friendly people (as a whole). We are a bit cliquey
at first, but once we get to know you, you'll be accepted into our "family."
"Mess with my new friend Dave and Sara from Wisconsin, and THAT'S
YOUR ASS!" is how we accept our new-found friends. We'll give you 100%
credit for being a kind, decent individual from the get-go; however, if a person
decides to backstab us and try to take advantage of our kind nature, we'll turn
180 degrees around and railroad your butt out of town so quickly your head will
spin. Treat us nicely, and you'll have a wonderful time here. Screw with us, and
you could wind up coming out of a few thousand crawfish assholes.


BTW, the vast majority of the crime in Louisiana is in the New Orleans area.
Most of it is black-on-black crime, with the drug dealers killing each other
over territory. Most of the other crime there is also drug related, with
people getting mugged for cash and jewelry for drug purchases. Speaking of
which, if you decide to take a trip to New Orleans for business or pleasure,
 _DO NOT_ wear expensive jewelry and clothing unless you know you're
going to an exclusive area or restaurant! Also, blue jeans,T-shirts, and tennis
shoes are recommended attire for Canal and Bourbon streets. If possible, take
a cab to the French Quarter. If you decide to take your car any way, it's much
safer to pay the extra cash and park your car at a parking garage where it can be
watched. In other words, don't park your car on a side street around the Quarter.


You'll also want to stay on the main drags, such as Canal, Bourbon, Royal, etc.,
and don't walk down the side streets in these areas alone at night! Go in a group
down to the Quarter (as we call it), and you should be fine. Anywho, I guess
another way of putting all of this is to say this: Think of New Orleans as being the
Washington D.C. of the South, yet add a TON more of political corruption, strip bars,
various types of musical entertainment, and drinking establishments that never close!
LOL! :^)


The majority of people in the Baton Rouge area is actually made up of people from
the western portion of the state of Mississippi. While there, you'll hear the
Southern Drawl, which won't hear too often in Lafayette or New Orleans. There
are Cajuns and other French there, but they are vastly outnumbered by people with
names like Smith, Jones, Mac Donald, etc. The Cajuns are around 1/4 the population
there if not lower.


Another fallacy, folks: The vast majority of Cajuns are not stupid and are actually
very highly intelligent and well educated. We do love to laugh at ourselves and make
up jokes about fictitious "swamp rats" that live out in the swamps, though! :^). The
University of Louisiana (located in Lafayette) has the 2nd largest student population
in the state, and it's mainly made up of Cajuns. The only reason  UL is not larger than
the LSU system is that LSU gets 50% of the higher-education funding from the state
by default. The rest is fought for amongst the remainder of the state-funded schools.


Anywho, UL's specialty and main focus is high tech industry, with our main focus being
in electrical, mechanical, civil, structural, petroleum, and computer engineering. Naval
Architecture is also popular here, too. We also have a huge computer science department
here, and a the vast majority of the cash that we get from big business as donations come
from the major oil companies. BTW, most Cajuns are upper-middle class or rich, and most
of them don't want the rest of the country to know this, too! "Keep them in the dark on this,
and let them think we're all a bunch of stupid butt-wipes!" is commonly heard in general
conversation. For instance, the population here is around 100,000 or so folks (within the city
limits, and not including suburbs), and around 8,000 of these people are multi-millionaires,
with a few of them closing in on the billionaire level.


Well, that's a lot of positive stuff about Cajuns, but here's a negative, though
very truthful statement: most Cajuns drink alcohol like fish and will stop at
nothing to get totally drunk and have a good time! Yep! We're all a bunch of
damn drunkards! :^)


Ok. Probably more than you ever wanted to know about New Orleans, Louisiana
culture,  and Cajuns, but the "crawfishing" post here on Bush's recent talk made me
want to speak up about our culture and fill you guys in on the situation here :^).
Hopefully, this post/tome has solidified my place as a totally SOC individual.


Hmmm. Anybody come up with a circuit that can read CW from a morse key
connected to an RS-232 port or something? If not, maybe I could throw one
together and "write" my next message with my left foot or something! :^)

73!

Randall
AB5NI