The Texas Accent

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by Bubble99

To me people in and around Houston have more drawl. Where people in Dallas have more twang.

Houston have more country accent than Dallas.

If there was any Hollywood movie or TV show like the walking dead in Texas and Hollywood had to put on a accent they would pick Houston accent over Dallas.

My uncle from Cannon County, Tennessee came down to Houston when I was living over there back in the mid 70's and he said he never heard so many Yankee accents in one place as he did at the Houston Astrodome when he went to see the Astros play one afternoon.

I really don't hear too much of any kind of accent whenever I'm in Houston or Dallas.

[Redlionjr]

Houston and Dallas definitely have country accents, it's just not as noticeable due to so many transplants influencing the city. I also believe age and race plays and areas of town play a part in hearing more a accent consistently compare to smaller areas where there's less transplants. I believe in cities like Dallas and Houston and even Austin the further you go out of the city the stronger the accents will tend to be. In the cities core where it's mostly 20 to 30 something millennials and mass amounts of gentrification you won't hear it as much. Once again due to a large amount of transplants and just exposure to many different areas of the world. I think you tend to see that in any city with a large influx of transplants. Since living in Atlanta, you don't regularly hear a southern accent in the city limits(unless it's the black population, same for Houston and Dallas) but you go out the city limits and into some of the suburban to almost rural areas and the accents get thicker. Hell, same as New York City. When I was in Manhattan I heard just as many non- NY accents from locals then I did NY accents. When I was in Staten Island and Brooklyn though the accents were non stop thick.

[radiolibre99]

The younger generation in Texas cities usually don't have accents except for the various slang words that might sound southern to people on the coasts.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

The younger generation in Texas cities usually don't have accents except for the various slang words that might sound southern to people on the coasts.

See I beg to differ especially when I moved out of Texas and realized that even the younger generation has an accent. It's just not the stereotypical over the top "Texan" accent. But I hear it on average especially when I go back to Texas.

[Bubble99]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

This seems a bit over the top. I lived all over the south for most of my life and I had no problem at all understanding the southern/Texas accents in east Texas when I moved here as an adult.

I'm not sure why some people have hard time understanding or it very noticeable the accent. Or lot of people at city-data seem to be into this accent thing and say this areas is like this and this area is like that.

When I think accents I think of UK, Russians talking, Israelis and people from Japan and even those people I can make out 90% of what they are saying!!

I'm not sure may be people are picking and just get hung up on some words. When it is only 4% or 8% accent in that area.

I have listen to Jamaicans talk and Cubans that talk really fast in Miami and have had no problem understanding them.

May be some people get hung up on some words or have some kind of problem with sounds the way the sounds come in.

[TexasTallest]

Originally Posted by Bubble99

I'm not sure why some people have hard time understanding or it very noticeable the accent. Or lot of people at city-data seem to be into this accent thing and say this areas is like this and this area is like that.

When I think accents I think of UK, Russians talking, Israelis and people from Japan and even those people I can make out 90% of what they are saying!!

I'm not sure may be people are picking and just get hung up on some words. When it is only 4% or 8% accent in that area.

I have listen to Jamaicans talk and Cubans that talk really fast in Miami and have had no problem understanding them.

May be some people get hung up on some words or have some kind of problem with sounds the way the sounds come in.

I agree, though admittedly one time when I stopped at a gas station while driving in Louisiana there was a rednecky cajun guy in there talking and it was surprisingly difficult to understand him. It might of been more the way he strung words together though rather than the accent itself..?

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

I agree, though admittedly one time when I stopped at a gas station while driving in Louisiana there was a rednecky cajun guy in there talking and it was surprisingly difficult to understand him. It might of been more the way he strung words together though rather than the accent itself..?

Ma cherie, dat is one accent dat be's hard to wrap your tete around, no? Lache pas la patate!

[DanielWayne]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

Ma cherie, dat is one accent dat be's hard to wrap your tete around, no? Lache pas la patate!

Ha! I grew up on Orange, and you hear this accent lot in the Golden Triangle! We had neighbors who spoke French at home. It was not that uncommon back then. Lots of folks whose last names end in 'eaux', too

That's why I say Texas has more than one 'Texas' accent. I worked with a lot of people who finished at UTEP. They sound a bit different from people from South Tx. There's all kinds of differences across Tx, but then again Tx takes up a lot of space.