Follow up to Texas Reb's Yankee thread !

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

41% Dixie. Barely in Yankeedom.

Oh, for crying out loud.....LOL!!

LOL Cathy sis? For some reason, even though I realize ALL these quizzes are flawed in many ways, I just can't imagine YOU, having a mostly Yankee accent! A Texan gal and a half!

But seriously, just a few replies/observations per my own choices (in red), as to what you say (and I DEFINITELY empathize).

Issues:

1. Beach and coast both.

I picked "coast" because when I refer to a trip to the Gulf, I will say something like "this year we ought to go down to the coast...". So I was looking at it in that light.

2. Cart most common, but basket also used.

What threw me off was "shopping" aforehand in the parenthesis. I grew up calling them "buggy", and still do (on the rare occasions I accompany her shopping...gawd I HATE shopping) as in "I'll get us a buggy." BUT..if "shopping" is to be the operative adjective, then if I am relating the experience, I would use "cart". As in, "Well, we got a shopping cart and and then..."

6. How are you would come before anything for us, but just "Hi" is more common.

Texan to the bone, but while I say "hidy" sometime, I VERY seldom use that old Texas western movie saloon "howdy" Unless I am just being a bit intentionally jocular. LOL Usually, depending upon the circumstance of the meeting, it is more like "Hey there" or just, as you say "Hi". Or hey y'all. But even THAT depends upon if the meeting is by random chance.

9. Definitely rummage. I have NEVER heard "plunder" used like this.

My preferred choice was not listed. I say "digging". Rumage was the one I picked though, since it was closest and I have used it before. "Plunder"? Even though it is said to be a Southern term, I haven't ever even heard it used by my Deep South friends/distant kin! LOL

10. Pretty....the others are used only to be funny or for GREAT emphasis!

Are you SURE on this one, Cathy? This was a tough one for me, but "pretty" was not an option. That is, as in "pritty"? It came down to "purty" and "purdy" for me. After a lot of listening to myself, I chose the latter originally. But after reading your post, I got to wondering about it again. Sooooo...I went in and took the ultimate test. I asked B. and her son how THEY pronounced it (she is from Colorado, he is from Michigan.) and it came out "pritty". Ok, fine. Then I said it, and both told me it was close, but more "pur-dee" than "pur-tee". ...but just a bit ago. So I will stick with my first answer.


12. This was one of the stranger ones.....in West Texas, I've only heard "watter" from other WT natives.

I've heard "wattuh" from Yankees.....but I've never heard the last that I ever remember.

I chose "watter" because it was the closest thing. Now, if "wadder" had been a selection..."

13. I've never noticed "oil" pronounced with only one syllable. I say mostly the first choice, 3 syllables, sometimes run together to two.

Mine was "awl".... because that was the closest choice. But really, it is more like "aw'll" (in the same general way as "y'all" blends together). Not quite two-syllables, but division slightly detectable. ).

14. Humdinger and doozie seem to be common in West Texas.

Both worked for me as well, but I went with "doozie" (they said this choice had a slight bias toward the north...so maybe that accounts for my less than perfect Dixie score, reckon? LOL

17. I usually hear "mow the lawn", though all are used.[/quote]

Thanks for reminding me, Cathy! NOT!!! I gotta go mow the grass tomorow!

Just kiddin!

[Cathy4017]

OK, here are my comments...in blue.

Originally Posted by TexasReb

.......

2. Cart most common, but basket also used.

What threw me off was "shopping" aforehand in the parenthesis. I grew up calling them "buggy", and still do (on the rare occasions I accompany her shopping...gawd I HATE shopping) as in "I'll get us a buggy." BUT..if "shopping" is to be the operative adjective, then if I am relating the experience, I would use "cart". As in, "Well, we got a shopping cart and and then..."

That's really interesting--to us, "buggy" is what a horse pulls!

You're not the only one that hates shopping, LOL!!

6. How are you would come before anything for us, but just "Hi" is more common.

Texan to the bone, but while I say "hidy" sometime, I VERY seldom use that old Texas western movie saloon "howdy" Unless I am just being a bit intentionally jocular. LOL Usually, depending upon the circumstance of the meeting, it is more like "Hey there" or just, as you say "Hi". Or hey y'all. But even THAT depends upon if the meeting is by random chance.

"Hidy" is also common, and what I would have chosen.

9. Definitely rummage. I have NEVER heard "plunder" used like this.

My preferred choice was not listed. I say "digging". Rumage was the one I picked though, since it was closest and I have used it before. "Plunder"? Even though it is said to be a Southern term, I haven't ever even heard it used by my Deep South friends/distant kin! LOL

"Dig works for me, too!

10. Pretty....the others are used only to be funny or for GREAT emphasis!

Are you SURE on this one, Cathy? This was a tough one for me, but "pretty" was not an option. That is, as in "pritty"? It came down to "purty" and "purdy" for me. After a lot of listening to myself, I chose the latter originally. But after reading your post, I got to wondering about it again. Sooooo...I went in and took the ultimate test. I asked B. and her son how THEY pronounced it (she is from Colorado, he is from Michigan.) and it came out "pritty". Ok, fine. Then I said it, and both told me it was close, but more "pur-dee" than "pur-tee". ...but just a bit ago. So I will stick with my first answer.

LOL!! "Pritty" would be the closest, but NOT any of the others...I'm not kidding!

12. This was one of the stranger ones.....in West Texas, I've only heard "watter" from other WT natives.

I've heard "wattuh" from Yankees.....but I've never heard the last that I ever remember.

I chose "watter" because it was the closest thing. Now, if "wadder" had been a selection..."

LOL!! Never...

13. I've never noticed "oil" pronounced with only one syllable. I say mostly the first choice, 3 syllables, sometimes run together to two.

Mine was "awl".... because that was the closest choice. But really, it is more like "aw'll" (in the same general way as "y'all" blends together). Not quite two-syllables, but division slightly detectable. ).

Yes. That, too.....just never ONE syllable!

14. Humdinger and doozie seem to be common in West Texas.

Both worked for me as well, but I went with "doozie" (they said this choice had a slight bias toward the north...so maybe that accounts for my less than perfect Dixie score, reckon? LOL

17. I usually hear "mow the lawn", though all are used.

Thanks for reminding me, Cathy! NOT!!! I gotta go mow the grass tomorow!

Well....hire a yardman and enjoy your weekend....LOL!!

Just kiddin! [/quote]

And.....a big HIDY from beautiful mountain CO.........dayum, I love it up here, and I don't want to go home!

[BillyH]

Originally Posted by Fillmont

I agree that frontage road is the word of choice in Austin - all my native Austinite friends use it.

Not sure why in my mind service and access road are interchangeable. Is it that Dallas/Fort Worth doesn't really have a dominant term for it?

For what it's worth, here is what some anonymous dude on wiki has to say about it:



Could our Houstonians, San Antonians, Austinites, Dallasites, Fort Worthians, and, uh, El Pasoers? confirm or deny?

SA resident I see the TXDOT signs also that read frontage in many areas in SA, I use frontage or access but never feeder or service. A friend from Dallas who has lived in SA for years calls them service roads. 44% Dixie

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Fillmont

I love a good cultural misunderstanding story. Pretty impressive that even within one state we can get so utterly flummoxed by what our fellow Texans are saying!

Same here! Actually, the BIGGEST cultural misunderstanding episode I was ever a party to, involved a woman from Massachusetts some years back. This again is a story I have told before, but will repeat it as you may not have read it.

Anyway, we were set up on a blind date by some mutual internet friends when she flew down to visit them in the DFW area. We hit it off pretty well (believe it or not...her a true Yankee and me bleeding Rebel gray with Lone Stars! LOL) and spent a lot of time together after the initial meeting. One night we were alone and watching some TV on the couch, and she suddenly turned to me and said "You know what I would really like right now? A good GRINDER."

Oh wow, thinks me! Northern girls come right out and say it! I have hit the jackpot here! Must be my Texas/Southern boy wit, charm, and accent that did it! Woo Hoo!

Hey, how the hell was I to know she was referring to a damn submarine sandwich?

[Desert kid]

100% Dixie. Is General Lee Your Grandfather?

I'm surprised by my result, I expected it to be maybe 50% or 60%.

The only exceptions to me are the "Bag" and "Beverage barn" questions. Where I'm from (southern Arizona) it's always just "Going to the Liquor Store", the first time I ever heard of "Beverage barn" was when I saw one across the street from a Dairy Queen off I-20 in Sweetwater, Texas. Then going through and coming home from Texas there were Beverage barns everywhere! Other than that, I have some southwestern terminology (and the nearest Texas city to me is 4 hours away).

I also have a definate western accent, the first time I was noted on it was when I was in Beaumont, Texas at a Whataburger, and the woman behind the counter thought I (and mother and sister) "were not from here, aren't you?"

And is General Lee my grandfather, there are some stories on my mom's side of the family (my great grandma is from Tennessee) it's possible that he's either a grandfather or a great uncle, he just may be in there somewhere.

Edit: I just took the Yankee-Rebel Advanced and came back 79% Dixie, so my neck must be rosy.