"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 lan-yap. It is Spanish — so they said. The first day I heard twenty people use it; the second day twenty more; inquired what it meant the third; adopted it and got it swinging on the fourth day. It is the equivalent of the thirteenth roll in a "baker's dozen". It is giving something extra, gratis, for good measure."

Mark Twain

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I left my heart in Lafayette this summer, but I brought back 10 pounds around my waist to make up for it. I've had the good fortune the past three summers of chasing baseball dreams in Louisiana and spending some quality time pretending to be a Cajun. I have a real soft spot for Ruston, Lake Charles, and Lafayette. When I heard our head football coach use it as one of his long-time monikers for the boys to, "give a little extra effort", I knew I had to bring it to life.

People are different in Louisiana. People in Texas too. We should join the two states and make one big happy country. The land of Lagniappe (Lan Yap), a place where doing and giving something a "little extra" is just the baseline, ya'll.

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Give a little something extra as you finish your week. I promise, it will make you feel good. Cheers!