Agagug,

It�s clear to those of us who are Late Latin scholars, (and I never get out of bed until the afternoon), that �Lagniappe� was originally an Italian food dish, Lasagna Applicazione, originally baked in Dante�s Inferno.

However, due to the Great Vowel Shift, from Roma to Coma, it unconsciously became Lagniappe.

It was 1492, and the Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus, was sailing due west, off the coast of Canada. He saw the dense fog ahead, and heard the waves crashing on the rocks. He muttered, �Ah, sinistro!" ("Ah, sinister!"), and went below to rest, because he had a severe toothache, and he hadn�t slept for four days and nights.

However, when the cabin boy brought him a plate of Lasagna Applicazione, Columbus was in such pain, that he couldn�t open his mouth. Instead, he put the food on his face. The warm pasta caused the pain to disappear.

So, the once famous Apple Pie Pasta, became the humble Bread Poultice.

In addition, because of the howling wind, the helmsman thought that Columbus had said: �Al sinistra!� ("To the left!�). He turned the steering wheel hard to port, and happily steered the ship away from the storm, south.

And that is how Columbus discovered America, instead of discovering Canada.

And another word, �Lagniappe�, was added to the dictionary.

Les Douglas