Do you say pen and Pin the same? You're a Texan.

Texas Star said:
I've told Euro friends on the Net to listen to George W. Bush and Audie Murphy (in his movies) to hear Texas accents. Bush is from West Texas, Murphy was from East Texas. But both have/had fairly soft accents. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has a Texas accent, but harder than some. I don't know when he left Canada (Alberta) but he sounds Texan now. I can usually spot a Canadian in short order, eh?

But I met a guy this week who I thought was Canadian, but he's of Norwegian descent, from northern MN and WI. His GF is Canadian, though, and her accent may have rubbed off on him.

I doubt that I sound particularly Texan. In HS, my Speech teacher tried to get us to have a more cosmopolitan accent that'd take us further in life than if sounding too regional. I met her standard and got on a TV quiz show. But I sure don't sound like a Yankee.

My son has a refined Texas accent, my daughter less so, more general Midwestern.

A well known South African celeb who lives now in NYC was in Dallas for a personal appearance at a store for which she's a spokesperson. She was at the upscale Galleria mall, signing autographs and making a promotional video. She asked one of the tech managers if there'd be any "cowboys." Wanted to hear and meet some. The guy, who was from NYC, told her that everybody who is anyone in Dallas is from somewhere else, often from up North. Said that she needed to go to Ft. Worth to hear "cowboys."

That isn't true, although it may be in his industry. It is true that Dallas is an increasingly international city and we do have many professional and technical people from elsewhere.
SMU is a classy university, and there are other good colleges here, too. We definitely do not have a small southern town atmosphere.

My late father did say that Ft. Worth is where the West begins. The eastern portion of Texas is the South. He said this was even noticeable from the air, where the terrain changes at that point. (He had a pilot's license. As a petroleum geologist, he noted things like geographical features.)
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Mine is a mixture of Willie Nelson's accent and Teds accent.
 
rick1085 said:
Hate to disappoint any true southerners especially you Texans when it comes to your exclusititvely. Born and raised in central California here. Can't possibly see more than one pronunciation of pin/pen They are exactly the same to me.
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Rick, I agree. My original post said Californians from the Central Valley use this pronunciation too. Bill S
 
Old TexMex said:
Australians have very different pronunciations in the different areas, like we do. South Australians say liddewl for little, Melbournians are prone to Pommy accent, and K1W1s are commonly referred to as South Seas Pommies. (How can one entire nation mispronounce nearly everything?):D

Since I lived in far north Queensland, everyone else was wrong, or at least...mistaken;)
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I have a bank teller here who's from Melbourne. She's the best, sharpest teller the bank has and I like her accent.

I watched a syndicated TV series filmed in Queensland, the tropical area. I think most actors were from Sydney, but one girl is from Canberra although based now in Sydney. Most were repped by the Mark Morrissey Agency in a Sydney suburb.

The Canberra actress (Lara Cox) was supposed to sound American, and managed an accent sort of combining a NYC and CA voice She was given a voice coach and that's what they came up with. She also has used a US accent in the DVD movie, "The Marine 2", which is a really good action film, NOT to be confused with the prior, "The Marine", which had an entirely different cast and plot.

Several actors (the roles) were meant to be British, but one Aussie sounded pretty fake. The lead actress (Rachel Blakely) just didn't bother and sounded like she usually does. A Canadian actor was originally British, of Russian descent. He managed a British accent fine, as he normally speaks that way. But the best was the guy who played Prof. George Challenger. The actor is a New Zealander and South Seas Pommies does sort of describe them. Peter McCaulay (sp?) is a trained Shakespearean actor, very dignified and skilled. He sounded quite British. I think his wife was British at one time. She directed some episodes and was an occasional guest star in the series. It also had a second Canadian and one American, Jennifer O'Dell, from CA.

I've heard Lara Cox in other local roles, and like her normal Aussie accent. Search for her on YouTube and you can see if you like it, too.
 
Well I must be a Texan, as I pronounce them both the same, and what’s more, I don't intend to change the way I pronounce either of them. If it identifies me as a Texan so much the better. Since I don't always wear my Stetson and boots, it is nice to know I will be recognized just by my accent.

Of course I always have my back up recognition system, in the buxomly bleach blond with the loud mouth that is usually by my side. LOL

But whether I am recognized as a Texan or not I will always have my sense of humor, and I certainly don’t spend my days worrying about the difference in pronunciation of pen and pin, if there really is one. I will leave that for the NYC, OCD personalities, who really probably have never used the words “please” or “yes sir” in their lives. As long as I am never confused with one of them I am happy to be spotted as a Texan.
 
finesse_r said:
Of course I always have my back up recognition system, in the buxomly bleach blond with the loud mouth that is usually by my side. LOL
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The late wife was from Beaumont... and blond (really ;) ).

Gotta go know. Fixinta go warsh some clothes... ;)
 
Ya' 'no, them Blandlanders don't 'no, the Frozen Polar North starts jus' a coupla miles norte of Dallas. I hada Ant from Houston that usta do the warsh two.
 
Huh! Guess my tongue ain't dexterious enough to make pen and pin sound different! You mean some make it sound like "ped" only with an "n"? I can't seem to do that with pen. I do frequently hear folk make a two syllable word out of a one syllable word, but if I wuz to do that with "pen", it'd sound something like "pee-yun", which is awful clost to what I do after I unzip my britches! There is a lot more than just pronunciation that makes up the way someone sounds, and that's true in my part of the world. My wife drives me up the wall and around the corner when she finishes my sentences because I talk so slow. And she kinda makes fun of the way I drawl and drag out a word sometimes. But she never misunderstands or comments when I ask her if she wants to go out to eat sumpthin'! Funny thing is that she recently heard a voice recording of herself taken when she was a young lass (that was a good while back, but if I want her to know I said that, I'll tell her, OK?), and she couldn't believe how much she now sounds like me and a bunch of other folks who live where she's now lived for all those years. Of course, she don't sound exactly the same since she was born in SE Missouri so she really can't help that!!! Listening to folks talk is a very interesting thing to do. I've always enjoyed listening to the folks who think that I sound funny when they talk to me. I'm thinking the same thing about them.

When I went away to basic training for the Army and got mixed up amongst a whole bunch of fellers from all over the place, I couldn't hardly understand some of 'em. First of all, they talked so durned fast it sounded like a 78 rpm record being played on 45 rpm. Thanks to all who have participated in this thread. It's been a real treat for me to read and participate. And if y'all want to hear "Texan", there's a gurl down the street who grew up in the sand just east of the Texas/New Mexico border and who I've known for about 50 years who would make you smile to hear her when she talks. She talks nearly as slow as I do, but she is a whole lot better looking than me. Wish you could hear us both!!! Thanks for all the comments posted here.
 
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I saw the posts about "warshing" clothes.

My late mother was from AR and said that and a brother still does. I've tried repeatedly to tell him that there's no "r" in "wash." Falls on deaf ears. Well, on one deaf ear; he's literally deaf in one ear, and in both on some issues.
 
The OP was about how Texans talk. It is really Southern talk. We talk the same here in North Carolina and several posters from other Southern States have posted pronunciations that I have heard all my life. Several limbs of my family tree were here in the early 1700s and I talk like others in my family. Like the song "I'm just carrying on a family tradition". Larry
 
I think it was in Sevierville TN

Texas Star said:
I saw the posts about "warshing" clothes.

My late mother was from AR and said that and a brother still does. I've tried repeatedly to tell him that there's no "r" in "wash." Falls on deaf ears. Well, on one deaf ear; he's literally deaf in one ear, and in both on some issues.
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There was a place with a sign on it...."Car Wash" that had a little 'r' with an arrow pointing between the 'a' and the 's'.
 
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