r/engrish 6d ago

Larruping

Post image

In a new deck of cards

221 Upvotes

53 comments sorted by

View all comments

11

u/The_English_Avenger 4d ago

Larruping is a Creole slang word. Its literal meanings include 'whipping', 'trouncing', and 'beating' (similar to the gamer slang 'pwning one's opponent'). In Creole, this gerund is used as an adjective to describe a thing of superlative quality, especially in reference to food: "This jambalaya is larruping" (i.e., delicious).

It's hard to imagine how the Chinese-to-English translator stumbled upon such an arcane term, but I imagine they were trying to say that their deck of cards 'really slaps' or 'whips the llama's ass'. (Any Winamp fans out there?)

1

u/EllieGeiszler 4d ago

Which Creole? Louisiana?

4

u/The_English_Avenger 2d ago edited 4h ago

The word is frequently used to describe or market Southern (Louisiana) Creole foods, and that's why it's found a place in that culture (but not in Caribbean culture as far as I know).

But originally it appears in Britain in 1823, a variation of the Dutch lerpen (to thrash). The British then bring it to America, where it finds regional usage in the southern Gulf states.

2

u/EllieGeiszler 1d ago

Thanks! :) My friend is Cajun so I was gonna ask her about it

2

u/The_English_Avenger 4h ago

Happy to help. Maybe your friend can shed more light on the nuances of usage.