Texas Talk

Hi, you have A Way with Words.

Good morning. Hi, my name’s Greg.

I’m calling from Dallas, Texas, where I’m a, I guess you might call a new transplant to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Oh, okay. From where?

Well, I’ve spent most of my life on the West Coast from Oregon, Washington, California, and just recently came to Dallas about six, eight weeks ago for a new job.

Oh, congratulations on the new gig.

Great.

Thank you.

You know, I’ve always sort of been a languageophile, took college German and actually spent my last year of college in Germany. And, you know, it was no secret. Yeah, it was no secret that I was an American and German. And I think it’s also no secret that I’m not a native Texan.

And I’m wondering what the best way from a language point of view it is to kind of assimilate into the culture. You know, I’ve known people who were transplants to Texas, and I hear them trying to pick up the vernacular, and it seems kind of contrived at best, almost insulting if, you know, I mean, I would have a hard time saying y’all or all y’all, even though I know that’s in the Dallas lexicon.

And so I’m trying to figure out, you know, what’s the best way to assimilate and not seem like I’m trying to assimilate.

What a great question. That is really interesting. You’re trying to be comfortable there and you want people to be comfortable with you.

Exactly.

And Greg, are you talking more about accent or diction, the words that you use, vocabulary?

Well, I mean, you know, I think if I were to try to imitate accent, that would be extremely contrived. I think people would see that in a second. I’m thinking more of the diction and, you know, and how do you use the appropriate amount of diction and, you know, and use the local vocabulary without seeming like you’re going out of your way to try to fit in, because I think that would be a problem, too.

Right, right. And you’re wanting to be respectful.

Absolutely.

Of the way that people talk. I’m betting that you’re going to end up saying y’all before too long, just because it’s such a useful word. And it’s going to come naturally to you. You’re not even going to have to worry too much about whether or not you’re going to pick it up. It’s just one day you’re going to realize, oh, I’ve been saying y’all for quite a while now, haven’t I?

Yeah, exactly. I’m sure of that too. But I want it to be spontaneous and natural and not forced.

Greg, you’re on a great course here because it sounds like you’re open to changing your own speech and learning the speech of other people. I would say go with it. You sound like an intelligent person. The natural thing for somebody like you is to just let it ride. Just see what happens.

And people around you, maybe they’ll do a little tease or they’ll introduce you to a new word that they know you don’t know. I know that some of this stuff is going to come with a little bit of force. If you’re in a place where they call shopping carts buggies instead of shopping carts, and it’s not necessarily where you are now, and you say shopping carts, you’re going to start saying buggy pretty fast.

But I don’t imagine a lot of your changes are going to come very quickly. They’re going to come suddenly and slowly. You’ll learn new words watching the newscast on the television or from the newspaper. You’ll hear different accents at church or in meetings and so forth.

And I think the other thing is that, you know, it goes both ways. I think if you hear somebody saying, I’m fixing to do something, it might not be something that you adopt, but you don’t remark on it either.

I think Martha and I have kind of been slowly circling around to the point, which is that it’s cool that you’re paying attention to this. And just take it easy. Don’t rush it. It will sound contrived. Don’t rush it. Take your time. Learn it as it comes to you. And just appreciate the novelty that you find around you.

Once people find out that you’re interested, once Texans find out that you’re interested in how they speak, they will become your new best buddy, and they will teach you everything you need to know really fast.

That’s a great suggestion. Thank you. Because they’re friendly and very proud of the way they talk.

Exactly, and I didn’t want to insult that, so thank you for your tips.

Yeah, I think they’re lucky to have you there, Greg, and so were we to have you just now. Thank you for this conversation.

Well, thank you very much.

All right, take care. Good luck.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

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