UL had first dibs on the word Geaux

[cajunnexile]

_ If there are any lawyers out there, can UL copyright or Trademark "GEAUX" so that no other school can use it? _

No, it has fallen into come use for too long. Also, it would take actual proof, that some employed by UL started the use of the term. Not urban internet legend.

[Turbine]

At the Alvin Dark reunion in 2006 (former UL Athlete and Dean) Glynn Able told me representitive Domengeaux was the first person to say Geaux Cajuns. He said it stemmed from confusion on how to pronounce his name and his love of the Cajuns.

Unfortunatly he didn't give me a year, we were interupted.

[CroCajun1003]

My guess would be that nobody "stole" the swamp name. I have a feeling both universities came up with it around the same time.

As far as the Geaux thing goes...its pretty dumb for LSU to claim ownership.

Ask a BR person where they are from and you'll hear something like "bat'n roosh". No French pronunciation at all.

How did these people come up with a French pronunciation of "Go" when they don't even pronounce the French name of their city in French?

That being said, it really doesn't bother me if they use "geaux". There isn't much stuff going on in BR. They are stuck between two major cultural areas in New Orleans and Lafayette. They need all the help they can get.

[Membertou]

_ "GEAUX" UL #1
Outside of Acadiana, French "sounding" terms were simply not in vogue until many years after UL made Cajun cool, by becoming the Ragin' Cajuns.

I found a UL publication (L'Acadien) with a "GEAUX CAJUNS" quote from 1976. The quote doesn't say it was the very first time ever used or seen (which is important) in fact the reference is very nonchalant in its mention of using "Geaux Cajuns" reference. It is only mentioned in connection with the new scoreboard since "Geaux Cajuns" was the first game winning phrase ever written on the new scoreboard.

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"The Swamp" UL#1
For those who haven't seen the thread.
Here is a link to a RaginPagin.com story on THE SWAMP & its Claim to the Name _

I don't know who used it first, nor do I care. However, I can assure you that "Geaux" isn't French or even sound French. If Geaux were French, it would be pronounced "Joe". Using French phonetics, if you want to say "go", you need to spell it "Gau". After all, its "Gautreau(x), not "Geautreau(x).

[Turbine]

_ I don't know who used it first, nor do I care. However, I can assure you that "Geaux" isn't French or even sound French. If Geaux were French, it would be pronounced "Joe". Using French phonetics, if you want to say "go", you need to spell it "Gau". After all, its "Gautreau(x), not "Geautreau(x). _

Shhh, don't tell Hokie Gajan, or the Jotreaux I mean Gotreaux family.

[AstroCajun]

_ I just came back from France. What I say is not ridiculous.

It's a different dialect. It's like saying that someone from England sounds the same as someone from America, they simply don't. Especially someone from the Yorkshire region of England, alot of those guys we would barely be able to understand.

The Cajun people were separated from France for hundreds of years. Over that time the dialect changed, words had to be invented, and pronunciations changed due to English and Spanish influences...among other things. _

I agree with you.

Canadian french speakers are easier to understand than Parisian french speakers.

They have a smoother dialect.

[Turbine]

Geaux-Cajuns

[CajunFun]

_ I agree with you.

Canadian french speakers are easier to understand than Parisian french speakers.

They have a smoother dialect. _

Which Canadians? The Acadians, or the Quebecois? The Quebecois CAN be easier, but they speak like greased lightning, and they have their own dialect.

And I disagree that it's smoother; to the contrary, my experience is that French French is difficult to understand precisely because it is so smooth: softened consonants, dropped consonants, liaisons, and a general lack of strong landmarks for comprehension.

[CajunFun]

_ I don't know who used it first, nor do I care. However, I can assure you that "Geaux" isn't French or even sound French. If Geaux were French, it would be pronounced "Joe". Using French phonetics, if you want to say "go", you need to spell it "Gau". After all, its "Gautreau(x), not "Geautreau(x). _

What's French?

That's not rhetorical. When scholars look at 'preserving' Cajun French, they respond, 'Which one? Today? 20 years ago? 100 years ago?' It changes constantly and rapidly.

True, French pronunciations are much more consistent than English... except, as you are well aware, when it comes to formal names, and then it's all over the map. Who's to say that one set of words follow the rules, another do not?

Because it comes down to the question, to whom does a language belong? To the scholars who study and codify it, or to the vast majority of people who use it every day?

To whom does French belong? L'Académie Française? Or the Cajuns?

To neither of them, or to everyone who uses it?

When the Cajuns say, 'Je back ma truck,' (or 'Je backup ma pickup') why isn't that acceptable? Scholars are horrified.

But I like to remind them that French was created by illiterate Gallic peasants who butchered Latin and various Germanic dialects.

[CajunFun]

_ In dialoguing with some Ark. St. fans before the game Saturday, one of them said we borrowed the word "geaux", and the name for our football stadium "The Swamp". First of all is this true, and second of all, how should I respond?

p.s.- they say we borrowed "geaux" from LSU, and "The Swamp" from Florida _

Other people have answered you, but let me tell you my story.

I arrived at U(S)L in 1977, and immediately asked what 'Geaux' ('zho') was. I was told that it was a Cajun joke.

Let me be blunt: LSU'S INTEREST IN CAJUN CULTURE ONLY HAPPENED *AFTER* CAJUN FOOD, CAJUN MUSIC, AND UL'S FRANCOPHONE STUDIES PROGRAMS TOOK OFF.

Before that, it wasn't just that LSU wasn't interested in Cajun culture, they pooh-poohed it. I know a guy at a Pac 10 school who interviewed for a French position at LSU in the early 80's. The interview was going great, he was sure he had the job... right up until he mentioned his fascination with Cajun French. The room grew cold, and they terminated the interview.

Then KPaul Prudhomme hit the big time, Cajun music hit the big time... somewhere in the 80's LSU started also using 'Geaux', and now they claim it's theirs. (After we got our PhD in Franchophone Studies, LSU quickly renamed their Dept 'French and Francophone Studies', and began claiming THEY were the center for Franchophone Studies in the US. They have been embarrassed so many times since by that claim that they have backed way off it.)

In other threads I have argued that LSU is not very innovative, they are largely reactionary to what other schools-- primarily UL, UNO, but to a lesser extent, Tech and the other schools-- have done. This is yet another area that substantiates that idea.

A more interesting question to me is, who created 'Hot Boudin'? LSU considers that their signature cheer. When I was a cheerleader and the LSU cheerleaders heard us doing it at camp, they were deeply offended, saying we 'stole' it from them.

But given their traditional disdain for all things Cajuns, I question that.