The YAT Language of New Orleans
THE WHO DAT NATION / The true Story - How It All Began
by
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In this publication, I will try to make the incomprehensible sounds uttered by the New Orleans locals understandable and appreciated. If you are a tourist and you are new in town, you won’t have to embarrass yourself by asking a local, “Are you from Brooklyn?” In addition, you won’t have to be afraid if someone points to you and asks, “Do you mind if I “ax” you what you know about my city before you mispronounce its name?” Furthermore, this book is to provide the “True” history as well as the background of why the New Orleans speech and dialect are being called the YAT language and how it all began. You will also learn why the people who were born and raised in New Orleans do not speak with a southern drawl or accent and why the pronunciation of our words make us sound more like we are from Brooklyn, or the Bronx. Also, after reading this book, you will then begin to understand why the New Orleans SAINTS FOOTBALL fans like to yell “WHO DAT SAY DA GONNA BEAT DEM SAINTS, WHO DAT, WHO DAT.” I will also explain a little bit about the city of New Orleans, which is so unique in so many ways, that these distinctive traits do not exist in any other city in the country, or maybe even the world. Certain cultural traits and peculiarities about our city go back to the very beginning when the city was founded. READ IT AND ENJOY
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About the Book
This book is more than just a record of the New Orleans “YAT” language. It was written to provide the true history of why New Orleans speech and dialect are being called the YAT language and how it all began. Many have written about the YAT language, but no one ever mentions the “true” reason why the name YAT came to be applied to our New Orleans speech. The true story of how our speech and dialect came to be known as YAT began way back in 1950’s. The word YAT evolved through three decades then came into existence in the late 50’s and early 1960’s. This book will explain the true story of what happened in New Orleans that brought about the name YAT to describe our unique speech pattern and pronunciations of words, plus a fun dictionary of the YAT words we use. Why did it become popular throughout the United States and many parts of the world? Well, it was because THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS football team and their loyal fans created the WHO DAT NATION by using the YAT lingo, when they would yell, “WHO DAT SAY DA GONNA BEAT DEM SAINTS, WHO DAT, WHO DAT.”
About the Author
I’m writing about the true history of the YAT language, because I grew up in New Orleans in the 1950’s when it all began. After going to California, I began acting and writing. Later, moving back to New Orleans, I lost everything in Hurricane Katrina, I now live in Lafayette.