Texas Twang and Prayer

I am from Minnesota. I did not have a lot of the distinctive Minnesota language. Our family was largely German in a Norwegian territory.  Yes, mom did say, “You betcha.” She said it a lot.

Hearing someone speak a different dialect naturally makes us wonder from where the person has come.

A good linguist can offer a good guess.

However, times are changing.

Don Graham, an English professor at the University of Texas at Austin, likes to tell the story of a student who once worked as a cowboy. "Wore hat and boots," Graham says. "He was the real deal." At the end of the academic year, the student told Graham that he was the only professor who ever spoke English. Of course, what he meant was the professor spoke his language, that is, Texan. You have heard it that distinctive twang and drawl that becomes almost an attitude, from the first "howdy" to the last "thank you, kindly." Conversation can be as extreme as the landscape in Texas, where locals will tell you it gets hotter than a stolen tamale and the wind blows like perfume through a prom.

My first exposure to Texans was not such a good one. I was present at Asbury Seminary when a large group of future clergy enrolled from Texas. To put it blunt, they became obnoxious during football season. In our student center, television broadcast most of the Dallas Cowboys games. In those days, the 70s, they had a very good team. In any case, I got to the point where whoever played the Cowboys was my favorite team that day.

Since then, however, I have had some good trips to Texas and meant some wonderful people from there.

I came across an article that suggested that Texas is losing its twang.[1] That is right, the Lone Star State's famous drawl, which was once as much a part of Texas culture and identity as longhorn cattle and reverence for the Alamo, is quickly disappearing.

For example, according to Lars Hinrichs, a linguistics professor at the University of Texas, at one time 80% of Texans interviewed by university researchers had traditional Texas accents, ranging from the East Texas drawl made famous by Matthew McConaughey to the nasal West Texas Twang of Laura Bush. Now, according to Hinrichs, just a third of research subjects have a measurable Texas dialect.

The factors that play into the disappearance of the Texas dialect are many, but the biggest culprit is likely the pervasive influence of pop-culture via modern technology. A small town in Texas was once a relatively closed system, the perfect place for twang to percolate and drawl to develop. However, that same town is now loaded with teenagers and twenty-somethings who keep up with their friends in California through their iPhone, watch the news out of New York on cable with their parents and who take classes online via Skype led by a professor in Pittsburgh. The result is more Texans who, when they speak, sound like they grew up in Illinois than in "San Antone." To be sure, their hearts still overflow with that iconic Texas pride (some might call it arrogance, such as we see in the Texas map of America, but I digress) but their language is losing its distinctive Texas sound.  

I came across a list of 10 Texas Sayings. 

 1. It's so hot, the trees are bribing the dogs.

 2. Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back in.

 3. If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.

 4. If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

 5. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.

 6. If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

 7. Don't squat with your spurs on.

 8. It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.

 9. Always drink upstream from the herd.

 10. Never miss a good chance to shut up. 

 Finally, you never have to ask a man if he is from Texas. If he is, he will tell you on his own. If he ain't, well, there is no need to embarrass him.

            Texas is not the only place that is losing what many think of as a charming feature of American identity. Even the valley girl speak we find in southern California or the “fuhgettaboutit” in New York and New Jersey, have experienced decline.

            Christianity has its language as well. Each denominational tradition has its local language. Some students of the churches would suggest that it is in the process of losing its distinctive language in order to have relevance to the secular culture.

            More than that, the church has a distinctive language that is prayer. Is the church losing that language? Are you losing the language of prayer?

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[1]  --Molly Hennessy-Fiske, "Texas talk is losing its twang," The Los Angeles Times Website. January 17, 2013, latimes.com. Retrieved April 4, 2013.