zydeco
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of zydeco
1955–60, said to represent Louisiana French les haricots in the dance-tune title Les haricots sont pas salés
Explanation
Zydeco is a type of music you might hear if you spend time in Louisiana — it's fast and lively, primarily played on accordions, and extremely easy to dance to. Zydeco evolved from a traditional black Creole music sometimes called "la la music," influenced by African and Caribbean traditions as well as blues. It was invented to be dance and party music, incorporating energetic rhythms and portable instruments including fiddles and washboards as well as accordions. One guess about the etymology of zydeco attributes it to the Creole French phrase les haricots ne sont pas salés, literally "the snap beans aren't salty," and figuratively "times are hard."
Vocabulary lists containing zydeco
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“This zydeco band ... can play!” says the gator, adding an excitedly drawn-out “hallelujah” for emphasis.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2024
In New Orleans, he spends time with Jeffery Broussard of the Creole Cowboys, a zydeco player who embraces the genre’s localized working-class origins.
From Seattle Times • May 17, 2024
In it she blends marital strife, Louisiana’s zydeco, a phantom named Becky and more in a sonic and visual gumbo fans didn’t realize they were starving for.
From Washington Post • Feb. 6, 2023
On “Mahine Me,” played acoustically on Ali’s 1992 LP “The Source,” the zydeco accordionist Ruben Moreno sits in for a buoyant interpretation of a Songhai proverb.
From New York Times • Sep. 8, 2022
Music came from the bars, zydeco and high-tide blues.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
