Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-12-2010, 10:06 PM
 
3,309 posts, read 5,774,143 times
Reputation: 5043

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasReb View Post
and know what "y'all, and "coke" mean and it's ok to pronounce salmon with the capital L! As in SaLmon, not sa'mon.

I like the way we Texans talk. And if it comes out "tawk"...then I am proud of that too!
Well thank you Reb! I thought I might be the only person left standing who says SAL mon! I can't even tell you how many times I've been corrected. I just go hmmm and right about then decide it's about time to mentioned that I'm fixin to have to go warsh some clothes. LOL, that really gets them going!

Seriously, there might be a few words we pronounced a little different, but I don't think there's anyone, anywhere who understands English that doesn't understand what we're saying. If it so happens someone feels the need to correct the way I might pronounce a word in order to have me mimic them, I just go hmmm and let them fret about it. I dang sure AIN'T gonna worry about it!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-13-2010, 07:33 AM
 
10,239 posts, read 19,610,755 times
Reputation: 5943
Quote:
Originally Posted by lonestar2007 View Post
Well thank you Reb! I thought I might be the only person left standing who says SAL mon! I can't even tell you how many times I've been corrected. I just go hmmm and right about then decide it's about time to mentioned that I'm fixin to have to go warsh some clothes. LOL, that really gets them going!
Well, jess don't fergit to have that squarsh fried up nice and crispy!

Quote:
Seriously, there might be a few words we pronounced a little different, but I don't think there's anyone, anywhere who understands English that doesn't understand what we're saying. If it so happens someone feels the need to correct the way I might pronounce a word in order to have me mimic them, I just go hmmm and let them fret about it. I dang sure AIN'T gonna worry about it!
On a related tangent (that I may have mentioned before on this thread) is that many universities in Texas/South have "voice and diction" classes offered in the mass-communications realm, of which the intent is to rid the speaker of their natural accents.

I minored in journalism and wrote for the campus news-paper, so had some connection with the department (Mass-Communications) and became friends with lots of the students and some of the professors.

Once, I wrote a "humor column" lamenting the passing of the "Texas accent" and the concious desire to get rid of it. One of the professors invited me out for a beer or several after class one day, and we had a candid and frank conversation about it all.

Her position was pretty much along the lines of:

"I am a West-Texas girl, and I am proud of where I come from, but the fact is, a Texas/Southern accent is a negative in the job market of national mass-com. It's great if you are a used-car salesman in our part of the country. Or a country singer or a writer of local note that can 'talk the tawk'. BUT...if you want to get into the big-league mass communications arena, then you gotta play by their rules and not ours. My job is to see they are prepared for it."

Hell, I couldn't/can't argue against that kind of logic and fact. I don't have to like it (and she didn't either), but the inalterable remains. I have a distant cousin in Mississippi (born in Alabama) -- as sharp and intelligent as they come -- who once summed it up astutely by saying, "when I open my mouth around yankees, my percieved IQ plumets 20 points!"

Well, I intend to remain "down here". And will (to repeat the Alabama song lyrics) speak my Southern English just as natural as I please. And I respect and admire those who feel the same way. It's Texas, by golly, and we tawk the way we do, and don't apologize for it. If "they" don't understand us, then "they" need to learn how to interpet!

You go, Lonestar!

Last edited by TexasReb; 02-13-2010 at 08:17 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-13-2010, 07:45 AM
 
Location: Greenwood Village, Colorado
2,185 posts, read 5,015,463 times
Reputation: 1536
Quote:
Originally Posted by lonestar2007 View Post
Well thank you Reb! I thought I might be the only person left standing who says SAL mon! I can't even tell you how many times I've been corrected. I just go hmmm and right about then decide it's about time to mentioned that I'm fixin to have to go warsh some clothes. LOL, that really gets them going!

Seriously, there might be a few words we pronounced a little different, but I don't think there's anyone, anywhere who understands English that doesn't understand what we're saying. If it so happens someone feels the need to correct the way I might pronounce a word in order to have me mimic them, I just go hmmm and let them fret about it. I dang sure AIN'T gonna worry about it!

The Salmon comment reminded me of a skit Eddie Izzard did. If you never heard of him he is a comedian from the UK.

He was talking about differences between American english and british english. he said you say 'erb' and we say 'Herb' because there's a f**** H in it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-13-2010, 10:39 AM
 
3,309 posts, read 5,774,143 times
Reputation: 5043
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasReb View Post
I have a distant cousin in Mississippi (born in Alabama) -- as sharp and intelligent as they come -- who once summed it up astutely by saying, "when I open my mouth around yankees, my percieved IQ plumets 20 points!"
I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's no faster way to 'git yerself skint' than by making this common mistake. I suppose the old saying 'live and learn' comes into play here, although some people are so superior, they never learn! Too funny!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-13-2010, 02:32 PM
 
Location: DFW
40,951 posts, read 49,198,692 times
Reputation: 55008
I love my TX, more specifically Fort Worth accent that gets thicker when I talk to people not from the area.

For the record, to say Fort Worth correctly you have to leave out the "R's". It is Feaut Wooth or maybe Fot Woth... but Woth is at least 3 syllables. (maybe there should be more o's)

Oh well, I'm fixin to take a nap.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-14-2010, 09:27 PM
 
Location: Somewhere in Texas
5,406 posts, read 13,278,915 times
Reputation: 2800
I like a group title that a very young friend of mine on FaceBook joined. It's entitled, "I don't speak English; I speak Texan." I thought it was cute.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-15-2010, 04:06 AM
 
Location: Prescott Valley, Az (unfortunately still here)
2,543 posts, read 4,886,821 times
Reputation: 1521
Believe me, but I love how we "tawk" too! No worries here. Just the culture shock since being here. That's all.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top