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Talkin’ Texan Translations!

 

Just a song to get you in the right frame of mind for this post!

 

Honestly…I do not have an accent. Surely not. I have a confused accent. With a mother plus grandparents from Tennessee and a father whose grandparents/relatives lived all over Arkansas, I think that I talk like I am from a bunch of places. Add to that…my brother lived way up in Philadelphia for a few years after college. When he came home to visit, he talked like he grew up in Pennsylvania.

Then…he moved to New Orleans. After that, he sounded like he grew up in the French Quarter or…in the heart of the Garden District around St. Charles Avenue (well, he actually did live there). So now I have a litany of relatives with “the real thing” New Orleans accents. I really wish to goodness that I talked like them!

No wonder I became confused. I had no earthly idea what accent to choose. So…I just mixed them all together and still do. No wonder people are always saying to me:

“What? What in the world did you say?”

How totally insulting! I sound like a Texan! Well…maybe not, but I do talk using words that most all Texans use. Texas truly does have a language or word usage all to itself. Maybe when people ask me “What in the world did you say?”, they are referring to my words. That is it! They just need someone to translate! I really must not have an accent at all!

 

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I just do not know how to use the same words in the same way as the rest of the country.

 

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The very correct and very proper Texan tends to use the following important words and phrases…

1. Catty Whompus...can be used when a picture is crooked and not hanging correctly, a shirt does not fit right because one shoulder hangs down lower than the other (buttons are probably catty whompus, of course) or lines of children going to the cafeteria are not standing in straight lines. “Good grief…those lines are catty whompus!”

2. Dad Gum It…this special group of words keeps you from embarrassing your family and using a cuss word. Adele…at the Grammy Awards last Sunday…could have said “Dad Gum It…I am not doing this song justice”. She would not have had to apologize profusely to the entire audience for her not so polite words!

3. Fixin’…as in you are about ready to go somewhere very important or do something very important. “I am fixin’ to go shopping, dad gum it!”

4. Come Hell or High Water…to be used when you are bound and determined to do something and not one person can do anything about it! “Come Hell or High Water…I am fixin’ to quit this job by sundown!” Well…it does not really have to be that extreme.

5. Hitch in My Giddyup…this is not used that often anymore except when a person has a Charley Horse in a leg muscle or anywhere else for that matter. “Whoa! I surely do have me a Hitch in my Giddyup! I can’t even walk over to the supper table!”

6. Charley Horse...sort of explained in number five. But  isn’t this phrase used everywhere? Kind of a medical term as in “Doc…ya’ gotta get to fixin’ this Charley Horse!”

7. Coke…this word is used to describe any soft drink that you might be wanting to drink. In your area, you might call a soft drink by the word “soda”. In my “neck of the woods”, the word “soda” doesn’t work. However, if you just say “I’m taking myself on down to Sonic to get a Coke“…you could be buying any soft drink on the menu. When I was a teenager, I went on many “Coke dates”…        not as big a deal as a movie date. That is a “for sure” thing.

That is pretty much all I can explain. Right here and now…I have other fish to fry. Ya’ll will just have to wait until I get my act together again. I am just plum wore out and about to have a fit!

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/translate/

 

 

 

15 thoughts on “Talkin’ Texan Translations!”

  1. I married an Arkie so I know exactly what you are talking about. They have a language all their own. I knew everyone of the words and phrases you mentioned and what they meant. Lol

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  2. Just dropping in to say hi to you kindergartenknowledge, and like to mention before I get to what I really have to say, “your all talking ‘Double Dutch!, and a bit of gobbledy gook to boot. ☺

    Seriously, stopped by to mention a very nice comment you left on, “Inspired haiku by yassy66” https://mickhispoetry.wordpress.com/2017/02/09/inspired-haiku-by-yassy66/ and thank you most kindly for it. Its there in the notifications but it wont come up when clicked. I am struggling to access the apt that checks on spam, I have found many so called spam post there, which I have had to approve as safe. However unlike your comment they never appeared in the notification box in the first place. So, I’sa wondering if you could try again, please. Best regards, and wishes,

    Mick

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  4. Oh my! My mother said “Dag Nab It”…I don’t think that I have every spelled that phrase! I had forgotten about it…I must use it tomorrow! Maybe I should not use it on Sunday…I will wait until Monday. That is President’s Day and it might be appropriate for one reason or another. Not complaining! I don’t guess! I will practice with the pronunciation of Bnout and also use it…just casually at lunch (I will use it tomorrow) and see if anyone notices! I am going to be so Iowan! Is that a word?

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    • You will probably be so Dutch lol. If you are feeling a little claustrophic or off balance that would be a great time to toss out the word, “I am just feeling a little bnout.” I have not yet met anyone who can really describe what that feeling is. It is just one that you know when you are having it.
      Yes, yes president’s day might be a good day for Dag Nab It.
      “Dag Nab It, I am feeling a little bnout about that!”

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  6. Love love love the translations! In our area:
    #1. Skafe – denotes something not hanging quite right be it a shirt or picture.
    #2. Dad Gum It – yep we say that too.
    #3. Headin – “I am headin out to the store.”
    #4. No Matter What – Gonna do it No Matter What.
    #5. Charley Horse – cramp in my leg
    #6. Charley Horse – see #5
    #7 Pop – any soda, any flavor, “Gonna get me a pop….you want one?”
    #8. Bnout – not sure on the spelling of that one but it means that feeling you get when you feel like you are stuck in a box breathing your own air…..also known as mislick (also not sure of spelling) I think #8 might be a yankee version of Dutch words.
    Also love the George Strait song…..but then I like all the George Strait songs.

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    • Absolutely love your comment! So glad that you say “Dad Gum It”! Such a very convenient phrase! Ha! Never, ever have I used the word “pop”, but I’ve heard it used by friends at school who are from other states! Never have I heard the word “Bnout” or “mislick”…I don’t even know how to say the first one! I am crazy about George Strait too! I should have known that you would be a fan too…being lost sisters and all! We went to his “A Cowboy Rides Away” concert at AT&T Stadium (Cowboys play there) with over 100,000 other George Strait people! The best concert ever!!!!!!

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