Your Natural Use of Traditional Texas "Idiom/Slang"

[madrone2k]

A lot of these "Texanisms" have fallen out of use enough that they sound quaint and therefore entertaining. My grandfather -- who came to Texas as a young man in 1922 -- used a lot of them. Here are some:

Yonder, fetch (as in "go over yonder and fetch me that"), monostrous-big (really big), larruppin'-good (delicious).

He often affectionately called me an old "dololly", which means different things in different places, but originally came from pre-WWI British Army slang for crazy. (From the Deolali Sanitarium in India where British soldiers recovered before going home.)

If he thought a man was insufficiently masculine, he would call him a "piano player" (first word pronounced as "pie-anuh"). Also, until the Austin Powers movies, he was the only person I ever heard use the word "shag".

[Trainwreck20]

Haven't read through all this old thread, but is '"Fixin' to" in there? Or "tump" (as in he 'tumped over the canoe')?

[turf3]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Haven't read through all this old thread, but is '"Fixin' to" in there? Or "tump" (as in he 'tumped over the canoe')?

I commented above on "fixin' to".

I forgot about "tump" and "hike".

"Don't hike it up too high or it might tump over!"

I rarely use hike or tump but I recognize them as valid.

As far as soft drinks, I stay with the following:

"Pop" is your old man. "Soda" is what you use to clean off your battery terminals, or ruin a glass of good whiskey. "Coke" comes in a bottle or can and is fizzy.

[madrone2k]

Oh, yeah. I'm from Houston, with family from a small town south of there, and I remember "fixin' to" and "tump".

Earlier in this thread, I posted some quaint sayings my grandfather used. I forgot to add that I once worked with a lady from west Texas who was quite familiar with them. So, as we might expect, some sayings linger a while longer away from the big cities. However, now that virtually everyone has internet access and cable news, maybe we'll all wind up speaking the same way.

[Lodestar 77]

Born and raised in Michigan, but my father and his family line (none of who I knew) are true Texans. I don't believe it is a coincidence that I ended up here.

I would have loved to have been born and raised here. The only "Texanisms" I use are "y'all", and "soda" instead of "pop" which is what is said in Michigan. I have been told a couple times that I have an accent! Told it's the way I pronounce some words.

In doing some genealogy, I learned that nicknames were common in Texas "back in the day." My father's was "Blondie" and my grandfather's was "Curly." I haven't come across a "Bubba" or a "Tex" yet, but then I haven't gone too deeply into the family tree.

[madrone2k]

My dad was called "Cotton" because his hair was so light when he was a kid. His dad was sometimes called "Preacher" because ... well, he used the Lord's name in vain a lot, so to speak.

[kidicarus89]

I never really thought I used any Texanisms, but I use nearly all of those (except Tex-izz).

Coke can mean Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, etc.

I picked up 'get your cotton picking hands off my...." from my parents, but its more of an acknowledged old-timey idiom.

I notice we tend to pronounce oil as 'oll' instead of 'o-yel'.