Yeah, you rite.

A New Orleanian dialect is often compared to a Brooklyn accent. Both accents tend to shorten or completely alter phrases with an almost “laziness” in the pronunciation. Phrases like, “you know what I mean?” become “ya’ heard me?” or when agreeing: “yeah, you rite.” Dialects associated with areas such as Lafayette, Louisiana or even in Eastern parts of Kentucky often associated with a “redneck” or “hillbilly” lifestyle; whereas, a New Orleanian accent has been associated with it’s international heritage as a blend of Creole, French and English. Every language has its stereotypes and New Orleans dialect, at first sounds like a softer “Brooklynese” but, subtleties make a distinction between the two as clear as day and night. The Brooklyn accent has a more aggressive tone than the lazy New Orleanian accent.
My first notion of understanding the dialect of the region is to understand a visitor’s perception of the associations with it. After talking to two locals who were not natives of New Orleans I noticed that I was not the only one finding it difficult to imitate and understand that “Yat” dialect. Waiting in line at Café Du Monde last week I met Tim, a local originally from California. I asked how long he had lived in New Orleans and he told me he’d lived here for six years we discussed how difficult it was for a visitor to imitate the accent of a New Orleanian. He told me that when he first moved here worked at the Veterinary Hospital on Prytania for about three months and worked with a Creole woman who also spoke French. Tim told me, “ I thought she was foreign when I met her. She sounded like she just learned English.” I asked him if she was good example for representing the majority of New Orleanian accents. He told me that nobody was a good example, “I still hear new shit everyday, and find myself sayin’ it later. ” I laughed because I find myself in a similar situation constantly trying to mimic local phrases that I’ve heard. It’s an interesting to see New Orleans’s conscious awareness of their dialect. For example the weekly entertainment paper, Where Y’at. There is also the local cartoon “Vic n’ Nat’ly” which expresses the tone of the local dialogue between two ninth ward locals.
Lisa is another local who I met at Markey’s bar in bywater. She is originally from New Jersey and speaks with hints of the New Orleanian accent. We spoke about architecture, for a while and eventually after she noticed my Kentucky accent, we discussed her New Jersey background and accent. She described how she had lived with her mother in New Orleans and developed her accent. Her father would question her grammar, she quoted him saying “I don’t understand how you and your mother describe things.” Upon moving to New Orleans the accent of the locals can create preconceived notions about the person. Lisa told me, “Coming here, hearing people talk. It took me a while to realize that a someone’s dialect is not necessarily related to his or her level of intelligence.” I felt that this was a very important factor in understanding how people first receive one another. Often times we have the tendency to see a correlation between a “southern” accent and a lack of education. Moving past that tendency we can see cultural values that are present in the dialect. Asking someone, “Where Y’at’” in New Orleans really means wanting to know how they are doing.

Try your best at these few:
BAT'TROOM - A room in the house where one doesn't find bats, but where one bathes, attends to the elimination of bodily waste, or locks oneself in and cries until one gets one's way.
ERSTERS, ERSTAS - Oysters.
PODNA - A form of address for men, usually for ones with whom one is not acquainted. Frequently used in the emphatic statement, "I tell you what, podna ..."
UP DA ROAD - Same as down da road, only now you are traveling in the opposite direction heading "up da road" to either Chalmette or Arabi.
YEAH YOU RITE - An emphatic statement of agreement and affirmation, sometimes used as a general exclamation of happiness. The accent is on the first word, and it's spoken as one word.
ZINK - A receptacle for water with a drain and faucets. Where ya wrench off ya dishes or ya hands.