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To: Mercat
The border between east Texas (where the Dixie dialect of Texan is spoken) and north Texas (where the Midwest dialect reigns) is at the junction of I-30E and the I-635 loop in Mesquite, Texas, immediately east of Dallas. Folks east of that point say "warsh" (wash) and "naw" (no), and call iced tea "ahhs tay". Further east, behind the Pine Curtain that separates east Texas proper from the rest of the state, the speech patterns are amost entirely those of the deep South: "yeller" for yellow, "cobeer" for beer, etc.

In Dallas proper, people tend to speak with a flat, midwestern inflection, and say "you guys" along with "y'all". In fact, the presence of the east Texas inflection in one's speech is taken as evidence that the speaker is a hick.

I myself am from Dallas and generally use the Midwest inflection. However, when I visit my family in Tyler, I begin to speak with the east Texas accent. I don't know why this is.

14 posted on 11/28/2003 6:46:34 AM PST by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
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To: B-Chan
The border between east Texas (where the Dixie dialect of Texan is spoken) and north Texas (where the Midwest dialect reigns) is at the junction of I-30E and the I-635 loop in Mesquite, Texas, immediately east of Dallas. Folks east of that point say "warsh" (wash) and "naw" (no), and call iced tea "ahhs tay". Further east, behind the Pine Curtain that separates east Texas proper from the rest of the state, the speech patterns are amost entirely those of the deep South: "yeller" for yellow, "cobeer" for beer, etc.

In Dallas proper, people tend to speak with a flat, midwestern inflection, and say "you guys" along with "y'all". In fact, the presence of the east Texas inflection in one's speech is taken as evidence that the speaker is a hick.

I myself am from Dallas and generally use the Midwest inflection. However, when I visit my family in Tyler, I begin to speak with the east Texas accent. I don't know why this is.

Truer words were never spoken. Although Tyler is barely East Texas. I move to Garland in August after having lived in Deep East Texas (Pineland then Jasper) for 9 years. The difference is night and day. I love it here.

It's not really a midwestern accent here in Dallas though. It's a Western accent as heard in Colorado (my home state), Arizona, California. A midwestern accent would be Jenny McCarthy's grating Chicago twang. Can't stand it.

58 posted on 11/28/2003 8:44:15 AM PST by Melas
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To: B-Chan
The border between east Texas (where the Dixie dialect of Texan is spoken) and north Texas (where the Midwest dialect reigns) is at the junction of I-30E and the I-635 loop in Mesquite, Texas, immediately east of Dallas.
You've got that nailed down. I grew up 5 miles west of that intersection, just a few blocks off I-30, and I thank the Lord that I did. Like it or not, it's a fact that an east Texas accent is considered a liability in the big cities.

72 posted on 11/28/2003 10:21:53 AM PST by DallasMike
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To: B-Chan
The border between east Texas (where the Dixie dialect of Texan is spoken) and north Texas (where the Midwest dialect reigns) is at the junction of I-30E and the I-635 loop in Mesquite, Texas, immediately east of Dallas. Folks east of that point say "warsh" (wash) and "naw" (no), and call iced tea "ahhs tay".

So is that where the "official south" begins? I knew the "Grits Line" was somewhere just east of Dallas, but I didn't know where. I call it the "Grits Line" cuz that's where grits are standard side order in diners.

97 posted on 11/28/2003 12:56:05 PM PST by stands2reason ("Don't funk with my funk."--Bootsy Collins)
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To: B-Chan
I say "you guys" prolly more than "y'all"---I was influenced by my non-Texan peers in Midland during the boom. I often speak in Ebonics, but that influence is from my father who used it as an affectation. In real life, he had the faintest East Tennessee accent.

Now my mother is South Lousinanan, and if I'm down theya foah moah thayun a week, I pick up the ax-sayunt.
99 posted on 11/28/2003 1:03:54 PM PST by stands2reason ("Don't funk with my funk."--Bootsy Collins)
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