Texans VS Californians (Houston, Dallas, Plano: house, rent, motel)

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

ladys -- didn't you post somewhere that you moved way north of Dallas and were surprised because everyone is a transplant?

No I didn't. I live in Plano. I can't tell who is a transplant and who isn't, unless they tell me.....it usually doesn't come up in a conversation.

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by tstone

^ ^ ^
Speaking of "whining"....

Lemme guess, you're from LA?

Lemme guess, your sister is also your aunt?

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by ladysrodgers

No I didn't. I live in Plano. I can't tell who is a transplant and who isn't, unless they tell me.....it usually doesn't come up in a conversation.

FYI, Plano IS a far North suburb of Dallas.

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

FYI, Plano IS a far North suburb of Dallas.

Well thanks, I didn't know.......lol I thought of "far north" as McKinney and above.

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by KimK

Funny, the things I have never heard about a California accent is it being "clipped," "whiney" or "nasal." Is this how the folks on the nightly news speak or voice overs on commercials? I was always told that people going to California to break into the entertainment biz had to learn to speak like Californians more than any other regional accent as Californians had the least accent and therefore seemed desirable by media standards. All those voice coaches taught folks to drop their New York accents and Southern accents. Am I wrong here?

No, you're not wrong. Clipped means we end our words at the end, as opposed to dragging it out like a drawl. Oregonians and people from Washington state do the same thing.....as do people from Arizona. I guess it's a west coast thing.

As far as nasily, that would depend on the individual's voice. When I think of a nasal sounding voice, I think of New Jersy or the Bronx.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by ladysrodgers

Well thanks, I didn't know.......lol I thought of "far north" as McKinney and above.

Heh...for those of us who grew up inside the 635 loop, RICHARDSON is far north...Plano is BFE...and McKinney is almost Oklahoma.

[blueskies49]

Originally Posted by ladysrodgers

No, you're not wrong. Clipped means we end our words at the end, as opposed to dragging it out like a drawl. Oregonians and people from Washington state do the same thing.....as do people from Arizona. I guess it's a west coast thing.

As far as nasily, that would depend on the individual's voice. When I think of a nasal sounding voice, I think of New Jersy or the Bronx.

Also, Midwesterners have clipped speech. A noticeable difference are the ones from the southern tips of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio where they border Southern states. They have a little bit of a Southern accent going on.

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by KimK

Thanks for the clarification on that. "I was so self absorbed that the obvious appeared to be quite subtle," she replied in her whiney, nasal and clipped voice. In fact, if you look at that Wikipedia entry, part of us in northern California seemed to have that more midwestern sound of General American in recent times.

Where are you in N. CA? I'm from Sonoma County.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by ladysrodgers

Lemme guess, your sister is also your aunt?

Ok, now you're just being rude and disrespectful. I've always said ''Californians believe a lot of things'' and I still think my statement is valid. I wrote in general terms on here then you pop out of the woodwork with your insulting comments.

So you think I'm inbred, you comment on my underwear as if I'm retarded, and you make (incorrect) age assumptions. So in one sentence, you simply disrespect adults around you. And I need to chill out? Wow. Y'all really do believe a lot of things, huh?

Well maybe this is news to alert the media with, but you can find there are DOZENS of threads here with "accent" discussions. Now we Texans don't sit around at lunch all day and talk about our funny drawls either. But I can speak for true Texans when I say this:

We know who we are.
We don't deny who we are.
We're not trying to pretend we're someone else!

And most of us (outside of the Dallas area) also don't have inane, 30 minute discussions about how trendy sushi, coffee, handbags, and hair bleach permanently changed our lives, either.

[KimK]

I was speaking of "us" in the royal way. Like "us" Californians. I was born in L.A. and lived most of my adult life in Santa Barbara/Ventura area. I have been in southern New Mexico for six years. I would not go back ever. While I certainly defend us on many levels, I grew tired of the fact that retirement would have been years away there. Also, I think the weather stinks if you are near the coast. I hate the marine layer.

I just had to point out that in those Wikipedia entries General American and Californian accents are not very far apart to the untrained ears among us. You are right. I never recall anyone in California ever discussing our accents. I guess when you are worried about burning down, being flooded out, blown across the street or somebody elses new Lexus it just doesn't come up much.

There was an old history textbook called "The Californians" or similiar. I always thought there should be an update on that to bring us to where we are today. We are truly interestiing, diverse people and it might go a long way to explain to others our quirkiness.

I was watching this special last night on Pioneers in Aviation. A large chunk of that was devoted the the California side of the space race with North American Rockwell and Rocketdyne etc. When I was a child there it was truly like we were on the cutting edge of life in many respects. We were busy as a region to send humans into space and then movies were made there right in our own yards. Presidents lived down the street in their free time. Howard Hughes stayed at my grandmother's small motel in Palm Springs for years to hide out. Everybody who was and is anybody wants to visit California.

Are we quirky? Do we have accents, albeit quite bland? You bet and I am glad. Growing up a Californian allowed me to see and do things that would never have been available to me and it was largely because of living there and not who my family was or how much wealth they had.I attribute much of the personal success I have had to where I grew up and lived. I saw what was possible which, forgive me for being so blunt, is difficult to do when living in Seminole, Texas (I only pick on them because I drove through there recently). To dismiss us as a bunch of vacuous, rude complainers is a disservice to Californians and to the contribution we have made to this country.

I would never turn my back on California. I moved because at this point in my life, this is a better fit for me and my family. I still go home often. I still love much about it. Sorry for the long post.