Wednesday, October 04, 2006

LOCAL LINGO

Moving from Texas to Tennessee then back to Texas, there wasn't a big of difference in the lingo.
Southern is as southern does.

"YA'LL" is not a huge part of my vocabulary anymore, nor is "FIXIN' TO". However I blended "RAHT" in with the locals in both states. Now when we moved back to Texas the second time, there WAS a difference between the lingo in the DFW area vs San Antonio. I used to tease my cousins because they would always make a statement and then turn it into a question.

"Hey, she looks niiiiiice, right?"

as opposed to, "Doesn't she look nice?"

The combination of Tex Mex and english has become a language of it's own.

I have always been surrounded by family who combines their english and spanish.

The Laundromat by my grandmothers home is called the "WASH-ERIA" (roll your R)

It's no wonder I did horrible in spanish class, only knowing slang, forget verbs and nouns.

Then it was off to the midwest, Illinois. Where a Coke was now a pop and people always asking me if I wanted to "go with?"

"Go with you... WHERE?"

I still don't get that.

It is really frustrating because so many of my children's teachers
say "go with". Of course the creatures of habit rear their ugly head,
my children now say it.

Most people do not believe that I am from Texas because I have lost my southern twang. But 5 minutes on the phone with old friends puts me "RAHT" back in the heart of TEXAS!

Living in Michigan, taught me that there was actually an "UP NORTH"
people spent their weekends playing "EUCHRE"
I had better learn what a "MICHIGAN LEFT"
was "THE MITTEN" (we lived below the thumb knuckle.)
"THE UNION"
and that "MAZE & BLUE" were actually two words. I always thought that people were saying mazinblu. I thought perhaps if there could be a tickle me pink in the crayon box, there could be a mazinblu.

Now we reside in the beautiful state of Wisconsin.

The first week here my boys came home from football saying that the coach told them that they could take a break and head over to the "BUBBLER" Now this was a first for me. How in the world could you convert the water fountain to a "BUBBLER"

My advice to the kids: Just like cattle, follow the herd.

Eventually we will figure it all out...RIGHT?

Do you say soda, pop, or coke?

I would love to hear your "local lingo" and anything I may have left out.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Bubbler drives me nuts.

Pop...definitely althought I can translate when a true Texan asks what kind of Coke one wants.

E-mail me...the_kept_woman at yahoo dot com and I'll give you the low-down on the lightbulbs! :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Thanks for hearing me vent yesterday about the trials and tribulations of high school social issues!!!!!

me said...

around here (western pa) they use the term "Yinz" it means you guys. i was shocked when i first heard it. i thought the kid i was talking to was "slow" or something. and warsh, because clearly an r is in the word wash.