lagniappe

[lan-yap, lan-yap] Origin

la·gniappe

[lan-yap, lan-yap]
noun
1.
Chiefly Southern Louisiana and Southeast Texas. a small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or for good measure; bonus.
2.
a gratuity or tip.
3.
an unexpected or indirect benefit.
Also, la·gnappe.


Origin:
1840–50, Americanism; < Louisiana French < American Spanish la ñapa the addition, equivalent to la feminine definite article + ñapa, variant of yapa < Quechua: that which is added
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Lagniappe is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
lagniappe or lagnappe (lænˈjæp, ˈlænjæp, lænˈjæp, ˈlænjæp)
 
n
1.  a small gift, esp one given to a customer who makes a purchase
2.  something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus
 
[C19: Louisiana French, from American Spanish la ñapa, from Quechua yápa addition]
 
lagnappe or lagnappe
 
n
 
[C19: Louisiana French, from American Spanish la ñapa, from Quechua yápa addition]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

lagniappe
"dividend, something extra," 1849, from New Orleans creole, of unknown origin though much speculated. Originally a bit of something given by New Orleans shopkeepers to customers. Said to be from Amer.Sp. la ñapa "the gift." Klein says this is in turn from Quechua yapa "something added, gift."
EXPAND
"We picked up one excellent word -- a word worth travelling to New Orleans to get; a nice, limber, expressive, handy word -- 'lagniappe.' They pronounce it lanny-yap. It is Spanish -- so they said." [Mark Twain, "Life on the Mississippi"]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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