By Hillary Juster, NewsCastic
We know what you’re thinking: DFW doesn’t have an accent. We live in an urban center, not on a cattle ranch (most of us anyway). Though we may use y’all, that’s it!
Well, we’ve got some news for ya. Almost everyone that’s been (bin) raised in Dallas Ft. Worth really (rilly) say some of these things a little different (lil diff’ren).
We’re pretty sure (sher), though, you’ll find you say most of these or (er) know someone who says the rest.
We’ll Start Y’all Off Easy
via Giphy
We know that everyone from Dallas Ft. Worth says y’all. What you may not realize is that we also say, “all y’all,” whenever we’re talking about a group.
We even say, “y’all’s,” as in, “Are y’all going to take y’all’s car?”
We know all y’all use y’all this way. Fess up!
Queso
Pronounced KAY-so. Others may refer to it as nacho cheese, cheese dip, queso dip, or chili con queso but they’re wrong. We invented Tex-Mex in Texas, so we have the right to call it queso.
We’ve also heard a rumor that some yankees may prefer hot queso with cold chips in restaurants. Lord have mercy! Bless their hearts.
Technically queso just means cheese in Spanish, but really queso means delicious hot golden cheese dip in Texas.
Whataburger-Waterburger
We don’t know about y’all, but we’ll probably always pronounce it Waterburger. How do other people even say it?
Have you ever noticed, though, that we really just like to add er into everything?
Other examples:
Work-werk
Or-er
Flourish-flerish
Sure-sher
Ben-Been-Bin
via Giphy
Say these out loud with us:
Ben-been-bin
Pin-pen
Windy-Wendy
Wind-when
Can y’all hear the difference? Cuz to us they sound mostly the same.
Windshield-Wenshell
via Giphy
Speaking of fun with vowels, say the word windshield out loud. We hear wenshell.
Some other words like this:
Meal-mill-Mel
Wheel-will-well
Really-rilly
Tired-Tarred
via Giphy
Other words that sound the same out of our mouths are tired and tarred.
And we say,
Pecan-pecahn
Pajamas-pajahmas
And some of y’all even say, “sall,” (rhymes with y’all) for saw! I sall y’all at the mall.
Don’t Bust Your Head Open!
via Giphy
We didn’t even realize some of these were regional at first. They’re not folksy sayings exactly but out-of-towners don’t always know what we mean when we use them.
Bust your head open = hit your head hard
Roly poly- = that little gray scaled bug that rolls up into a ball when you touch it
Hissy fit = tantrum
Do what now? = pardon me?
Can I have a coke? = Can I have a soda?
Kit and caboodle = all of something, like the whole kit and caboodle
Catty corner = diagonally across, as in I parked catty corner from the store
Bless your heart = poor thing or sweet thing
Fixins = condiments for burgers, potatoes, or hot dogs
Fixin to = gonna
Up and at em = what you say to kids in the morning to wake them up, like rise and shine
Sir and Ma’am
via Giphy
When we interact on the phone or at the grocery store with a friendly stranger we try and remember to sir and ma’am.
Why? Because our parents raised us to show respect and be polite! Thank you very much, sir. You’re welcome, miss.
Where Did You Go to School?
via Giphy
What people really wanna know when they first meet you in Dallas is if you’re from here. The second question is, “Where did you go to school?”
We never believed our parents when they said that where we went to high school would matter. It sure does in Dallas!
THANKSgiving in NEW Haven
via someecards
When it comes to putting the emphasis out there, we DFW-dwellers like to go for it on the first syllable.
INsurance
THANKSgiving
NEW Haven
CREAM cheese
But, No No, You’re Probly Diffren
via Giphy
Ok, maybe you think those other ones don’t apply but you def’nitely do some of these next DFW quirks. Apparently here in Dallas we don’t like consonants or syllables too much cuz we drop them all over the place. To start with, never end an ing word with the g sound. We’re talkin about conservin our precious mouth energy here, people!
Other examples:
Probably = prolly or probly
Mayonnaise = man’aze
Different = diffren
Granted = granite
Caramel = carmel
Kitten = ki’en
Sitting = si’en
Going to = gonna
Want to = wanna
Crayon = crown
Vowel = vowl
Oil = ole
Old = ole
