The origin of the word "zydeco" is uncertain. One theory is that it derives from the French phrase "Les haricots ne sont pas salés", which, when spoken in Louisiana French, sounds as . This literally translates as "the snap beans aren't salty" but idiomatically as "times are hard", signifying the speaker's fatigue or lack of energy. The earliest recorded use of the term may have been the country and western musical group called Zydeco Skillet Lickers who recorded the song "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo" in 1929.