Thanks. I assure you I will heed that advice. I conclude that the best thing to do in La. is just not use slang terms for people period. :grin:
I hate to disagree with you, but we have thicker skin than you are letting on. We may not use the term coonass at our girlfriend's grandma's kitchen table over coffee and chickory, but there aint nobody in Acadiana that would knife you over being called a coonass. Primarily because it's a term we use as slang for ourselves. Nobody else really knows what it means or to which group it applies. How bad of an insult can that be? We sell merchandise proclaiming - "Proud to be a Coonass!" with a picture of a racoon's butt exposed on it! You won't see it on the bumper of my car, mind you, but you'll probably see it at more than a few hunting camps, hung with pride! As for Cajun - No, we don't fill in the blank on the <race> line of the census card with "cajun", but it's not at all a term we are ashamed of. Come on! Are you pullin' this guy's leg? We're more offended at the misuse of that term than anything! If a Yankee restaurant uses the term Cajun to describe it's food - that's when we feel like pulling a knife on somebody! Heck, USL officially changed it's mascot to the Ragin' Cajuns not that long ago - during the height of the p/c movement, and nary a Louisiana citizen of Acadian decent complained. One more illustration - if coonass is so offensive, why do policitican's, to this day, proudly call themselves a coonass at polictical speaches? Edwin Edwards made it acceptible to do it. Granted, you need a certain panache, but it's done.
Well, you know I was spoofin' him a little bit. Don't take it personal. He's seen the Official Coonass license plate, I imagine. And everybody knows Cajuns use the word freely. But more than one redneck has gotten himself into trouble with the careless use of the term. Acadian gentlemen can be easily offended, as your post attests, mon ami. But your point is well-taken. And I know Cajun's are proud. But I also know a little old lady in Moreauville who will admonish you in a second if you use the word Cajun instead of Acadian. But I still don't know what to tell the Auburn guy about where the term coonass came from? I don't have a clue. My main point to him was that many out-of-staters use it as a term for Louisianan's when it is more specific than that . . . and not without controversy.
I really need to start using the emoticons! It's hard to convey a mood through writing, sometimes. I was not offended by your post in any way, and I was surprised that I had not made my point more better. :redface: I'm just a coonass, what do I know, anyway! :yelwink2: :lol:
If you really wanna piss off a coonass, call him a redneck. That's where the ass whuppin might come in.
