Is 'doo' a cajun term of endearment?

Question

Paul Simon's zydeco-flavored song That Was Your Mother starts like this:

A long time ago, yeah

Before you was born dude

When I was still single

And life was great ...

At least these are the lyrics that I find online.

The use of "dude" strikes me as unlikely, incongruous, and sort of funny. Anyway, I don't hear "dude", I hear "doo". It seems to fit the song better if that phrase is a Cajun term of endearment. Is there such a term in the Cajun dialect?

Note that Cajun is indeed a dialect, but of French, in addtion to English. — T.E.D., Oct 27 '11 at 16:02

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 22 '11 at 18:25

2

A "doo" or a "faydoo" is Cajun for "party".

answered Aug 22 '11 at 18:25

Michael Lorton

28,092

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 22 '11 at 18:27

0

The Official Paul Simon Web Site shows "dude" as the correct lyric, with a copyright notice.

That said, "Doo" was used as a pet name in the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter", but that was a shortened version of the character's name, Doolittle.

answered Aug 22 '11 at 18:27

wfaulk

3,287

Thanks. It's not the first time I've invented a convoluted explanation that turned out to be completely bogus. – Aug 22 '11 at 18:31
You're hardly the first. – Michael Lorton Aug 22 '11 at 18:42
@Byron BTW, when you mishear a lyric from a song, its called Mondegreen. – Phonics The Hedgehog Aug 22 '11 at 19:45

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 04 '12 at 01:47

0

Doo (with the long o sound) can be used to tell your children to go to sleep. "Go doo doo now." But boo (with the ew sound) is used as a term of endearment.

answered Apr 04 '12 at 01:47

Cajun Girl

1

That makes a lot more sense to me, in terms of the song. I couldn't understand why he was using California surfer's slang in a tender song to his son: Dude! – Apr 04 '12 at 12:38

Is 'doo' a cajun term of endearment?

3 Answers3