Whatcha Y'all Doin' Down There

Thought Number One:  The Texas Drawl

As a former Texan, I feel justified in asking my Texas friends, ex- neighbors, and those of you that referred to me as a Yankee upon my arrival to your fair state,  “Exactly, what the Hell is goin’ on down there?”

The first thing that concerns me or if I am talking Texan,  “chaps my ass” was hearing about an ongoing study that concluded that the Texas drawl is going away.  Part of what makes Texas …TEXAS, is the slow…ever so slow… pronunciation of the  words such as howdy and y’all.

Wouldn’t  Texas be less Texan if the words fire and far weren’t  pronounced exactly the same way?  (BTW, they would both be pronounced fharr)  Would life go on as we know it if  the phrase “That dog don’t hunt” was said with a Midwestern accent?  OMG, the thought of it makes me more than a little queasy.
 
The University of Texas has been working on this study since 2008. One of the major conclusions from the Texas English Project  is the fact that the  infusion of people that aren’t native to Texas, that are now residing there,  are tainting the drawl.

As I was one of the “outsiders” that made my way into Texas, I shouldn’t  cast aspersions on those folks diluting  the drawl, but in my defense, at least I had a Southern accent of sorts.  Therefore,  it could be said that the 7 years I lived in Dallas, I did less damage to the “twang” than others are doing. Having spent my youth in the South, I already spoke Southern albeit not one of the dialects that are spoken in Texas.

I did have a certain advantage over others though as I had at least a basic understanding of “Southern”. For example: When the locals would say that the neighbors two doors down were just “sorry SOBs”, I already knew they didn’t mean the neighbors were remorseful, they meant those sorry SOBs were worthless. 

But not all is lost.   According to the study, if you want to hear the true Texas “twang” (and who wouldn’t want to hear it?), you could travel to Johnson County or Wise County. In some areas there are still very distinct Texan accents. (meaning it is less tainted by transient speech patterns)

I hate to see any of  the regional dialects disappear.  You might remember a post that  I did about my own accent, called  Do I Talk Funny? You don’t remember it???  Frankly I’m shocked but whatever…. In that post, I talked about the very strong accent that I picked up while living with my grandparents in Arkansas as a kid.  By the time I was twelve and moved North, the damage was done.(at least as far as my undecipherable speech pattern was concerned). The transition to living in Illinois was a tough one. Speaking a language that no one could understand proved to be a challenge.  The truth of the matter, however, is that the people around Chicago, had an accent that I couldn’t understand either.  Plus…they talk really fast.

So back to the point of the Texas English Project.  After all is said and done,  the very unique accents that were once prevalent in various regions of the country, are becoming diluted as people have become more transient and national broadcasting has  further influenced speech.  The study did conclude, though, that there will still be regional differences. Those differences may be less and less distinctive.

I tend to love the regional accents.  Whether we are talking about the South, East, North or West…I love to hear the distinctive sounds of how people talk. I hope we never come to the point when every one’s speech sounds the same.

Thought Number Two:   RIP…For Now

“Tex went down
talking,” Bragg said.

• 1949 –Erected as a
  52-foot-tall “Santa Claus” on Nov. 10th, 1949, in Kerens to
  bolster the town’s Christmas shopping.

• 1950 — Transported 60 miles to
  Dallas and sold to the State Fair of Texas for $750.

• 1952 — Transformed and
  unveiled as a giant cowboy named “Big Tex” and made its debut in
  late October as the official symbol of the State Fair of Texas. 

• 1953 — Speaks for the first
  time. Over the years, six men have provided the voice for Big Tex, which
  says “Howdy, folks!” about 60 times a day during the fair.

• 1997 — Original body was
  rebuilt on a cage-like frame made of 4,200 feet of steel rods.

• 2000 — Upgraded with body
  movements, waving to fair goers as they passed by to the Midway.

• 2002 — Turns 50, gets an
  all-new wardrobe and a new voice.

• 2012 — Destroyed in fire. Fair
  officials vow to rebuild icon for 2013.

I am a veteran of corporate moves. Having moved 21 times while my husband climbed the corporate ladder while dragging me up… rung by rung over the course of our 40+ year marriage. I used to delude myself into thinking
that I was middle-age but now realize that I would have to live to be 116 to justify that term. If wisdom comes with age, I am wiser than some, older than many, and more cynical than most. My blog is to jot down the nonsense I
see, hear and think about while I still have all my faculties working.