Well, hello and welcome to the Learn Every Day English podcast, Your Road to English
Proficiency.
Hey, you've come to the right place to improve your listening comprehension skills and mastery
of the English language.
Hey, my name is Gary and I will be your host today.
I am a native English speaker born and raised in the United States and a retired engineer
living in a small Texas town.
I am also a language learner so I know what it is like to learn a new and different language.
So now, let's jump right in to today's episode.
Well hello listeners and welcome to episode two of the Learn Every Day English podcast.
Hey I'm glad to have you with me and again, my name is Gary.
In this episode, we are going to talk about how to talk Texan or in regular English how
to talk Texan or talk like a Texan which is a person from Texas in the United States.
Hey, but before we get started, I want to remind you that you can follow me at my new
web page.
Just go to www.learneverydayenglish.com.
That's www.learneverydayenglish, which is all one word, .com.
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the YouTube channel there.
So now, without further ado, let's jump right into today's episode.
Hello, and in today's episode, we're going to talk about how to talk Texan or how people
in Texas talk.
You know, you probably heard that people in Texas talk a little bit differently from other
people in other parts of the United States.
So I'm going to give you some words and expressions that are commonly used in Texas and maybe
even the southern part of the United States, give you some definitions and use the words
in a sentence so that you can better understand how the word is used and how to use it.
And finally, I'm going to go over a dialogue or a conversation between myself and a friend
of mine named Billy Bob.
And we're just going to have a regular conversation using typical words and phrases that people
use here in the south or in Texas and that I will be going over before with you in the
words and definitions portion before I get to the dialogue.
So importantly, if you go to the www.learneverydayenglish.com website page, I'll have a link where you can
actually download this copy page in a PDF or Word file and you can download it and have
it to look along and follow along with me as we go through the episode and you can refer
back to it.
So without further ado, I'm going to start, I'm going to go over the words and phrases
that you might find interesting and that people use in everyday conversation here in Texas.
The first word is howdy, howdy, and that just means hello.
And you might hear this used in a sentence.
For example, somebody will say, howdy, y'all or howdy, Gary.
That means hello, Gary.
The next word is y'all.
Y'all is just a contraction or a way to say you all.
So an example is howdy, y'all or what are y'all doing tonight?
What are you all doing tonight?
Or how are you all doing?
Howdy, y'all.
Another thing that is very common in Texas is we drop the G at the end of words that end in ing.
So for example, instead of saying taking, we say taken.
Instead of saying making, we say making.
And instead of saying walking, we say walking.
So for example, I could say, I'm walking my dog.
I'm walking my dog.
And sometimes instead of saying my, we say my.
Instead of my dog, it's my dog.
So I'm walking my dog is I'm walking my dog.
I'm walking my dog.
Or my wife could say, I'm making a dress.
Or he sure is taking his time.
Number four is the phrase whatcha, which is short for what are you.
Instead of saying what are you, we just say whatcha.
So like whatcha doing means what are you doing.
Whatcha eating means what are you eating.
Whatcha reading means what are you reading.
Whatcha thinking about is what are you thinking about.
So here, instead of saying about, a lot of times we'll just say about.
So what are you thinking about becomes whatcha thinking about.
Number five is fixing or fixing to.
And so instead of saying fixing to, we say fixing to, fixing to.
And a lot of times instead of saying to, we'll say to.
So fixing to is fixing to, fixing to.
So that means I'm getting ready to do something or preparing to do something.
For example, I can say, I'm fixing to go somewhere.
That means I am fixing to go somewhere or I am getting ready or preparing to go somewhere.
Or I can say she's fixing dinner tonight.
That means she is preparing dinner tonight.
Another common expression you'll hear is uh-huh.
That means this is like a response to a question, which means yes.
But instead of saying yes, people will say uh-huh, or yeah, or even yep.
So those are three ways to say yes, uh-huh, yeah, or yep.
So for example, I can say, hey, did you hear what I said?
And somebody can answer uh-huh, or yeah, or yep.
Do you like the food?
Is it a question?
I can answer uh-huh, yeah, or yep.
But I must say these answers are very, very informal.
You only use these with close friends in a very informal situation.
You would not want to use these at work or with people that you respect,
your boss, your parents, your grandparents.
The next example has to do with the word ain't.
Ain't, which means am not, or are not, or is not.
So for example, instead of saying are not, a lot of times we say aren't, is not, we say isn't,
am not, we'll say ain't.
And again, ain't is a very, very informal way to say something.
So you would not want to say this at school or with your parents necessarily,
but only with your friends.
So examples I can give with the word ain't is, I ain't doing it,
which means I am not doing it.
You ain't going nowhere, which means you are not going anywhere.
He ain't my friend anymore.
He is not my friend anymore.
We ain't dating.
We're just friends.
That means we are not dating.
We are only or just friends.
Or I can say that ain't mine, which means that isn't mine or that is not mine.
Also in Texas and in the South, we kind of smash or push words together.
So instead of saying going to, we say gonna.
For example, I ain't gonna do it, which means I am not going to do it.
Hey, I ain't gonna do it.
Another example is that ain't gonna happen.
That ain't gonna happen, which means that isn't going to happen.
We also use the word off with other words quite often.
For example, we can say pissed off, which means angry.
Hey, he's really pissed off.
That means he's really angry.
Hacked off also means angry or mad.
She's hacked off.
Ticked off means angry or mad as well.
I really ticked him off.
I really made him mad.
We also use off with the word well in the form of well off, which means somebody that is rich
or wealthy or has a lot of money.
For example, I can say their family is well off or their family is very well off,
which means their family is very wealthy.
We can also say bad off, which means somebody is very sick or in a bad situation.
For example, I can say he has stomach cancer.
He's real bad off.
He has stomach cancer.
He's real bad off, like he's very, very sick.
Or for bad off in a bad situation, I can say both parents lost their jobs.
Their family is bad off.
That means their family is in a bad situation.
The next word is dough.
Dough, which in English can mean money or a lot of money.
So I can say their family has a lot of dough.
That means their family is very rich or very wealthy.
And sometimes you'll hear the expression they are rolling in the dough,
or they are rolling in the dough, which means that they are very rich.
You also might hear this phrase, might coulda.
Might coulda, which means might could have.
Might could have.
Another phrase is out yonder.
Out yonder, which means out back or out in the back
or out there for something that is at a distance.
We say coulda instead of saying could have.
We say gimme instead of saying give me.
We say something instead of saying something.
We say lemme instead of saying let me.
We just use the sound like n, n instead of saying and.
Me and my brother instead of saying me and my brother.
We say me and my brother.
And I mentioned this before instead of saying about.
We just say bout.
Hey, it's about time.
We say hey, it's about time.
Or this podcast is about how to talk Texan.
So I hope you found these examples interesting.
Again, you can find a printout of these words and phrases that I'm reading from.
If you go to the website, look for a link or button that says podcast resources
and go to episode two and you can download this document and follow along with me.
Follow along with the podcast.
It'll make things much clearer for you.
So now we're going to hear a conversation between myself
and a friend of mine named Billy Bob.
Billy Bob.
Hey, Billy Bob is taking a walk around the neighborhood and he sees me.
And my brother, we are outside in the front yard and Billy Bob stops to talk to us.
So this is our conversation.
Hey, Billy Bob.
Howdy, Gary.
How y'all doing?
We're fine.
How about you?
I'm a little pissed off.
So I'm out taking a walk to cool off.
What's going on?
Well, I was fixing to go ride my bike.
And when I went out yonder to get it, I couldn't find it.
I think someone stole it.
Dang.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Did you call the cops and report it?
Uh-huh.
Yep, sure did.
They came out and investigated, but said there ain't much they can do about it.
Well, what you going to do now?
I feel like I need to do something, but it seems like there's nothing I can do.
Do you have any idea who could have stole it?
Could have been, I might could have been my next old neighbor, but I really don't know.
Think you're going to buy another bike?
I don't know.
I just got laid off and I don't have a lot of dough.
Wow, sorry to hear that.
Hope you find a job soon.
Yeah, so do I.
I'm trying to stay positive and hopefully something will come up shortly.
Okay, give me a call and let me know if I can help in some way.
Will do.
Hey, I gotta go now, but it was nice talking to you.
Same here, Billy Bob.
Same here.
Well, what did you think about that conversation or dialogue between myself and Billy Bob?
Were you able to understand that or follow it?
Did you find it a little bit odd or maybe interesting how people talk in Texas?
Well, if you're also on the handout or the paper that you can download from the website,
I have kind of a translation in more usual or normal English.
About what me and Billy Bob were talking about.
Now I'm going to read that so you can get an idea exactly what we are saying.
And here we go.
Hello, Billy Bob.
Hello, Gary.
How are you all doing?
We're fine.
How about you?
I'm a little upset, so I'm out taking a walk to cool off.
What's going on?
Well, I was fixing to go ride my bike.
And when I went out back to get it, I couldn't find it.
I think someone stole it.
Damn, I'm sorry to hear that.
Did you call the police and report it?
Yes, I sure did.
They came out and investigated, but said there isn't much they can do about it.
Well, what are you going to do now?
I feel like I need to do something, but it seems like there's nothing I can do.
Do you have any idea who could have stolen it?
That maybe could have been my next door neighbor, but I really don't know.
Do you think you're going to buy another bike?
I don't know.
I just got laid off and don't have a lot of money.
Wow, sorry to hear that.
Hope you find a job soon.
Yes, so do I.
I'm trying to stay positive and hopefully something will come up shortly.
Okay, give me a call and let me know if I can help in some way.
I will do that.
Hey, I got to go now, but it was nice talking to you.
Same here, Billy Bob.
Same here.
So can you see how the difference in the two dialogues are?
One in more formal speech, but one in more informal speech that you'll probably hear more
if you're talking to somebody just in a informal, natural conversation.
Quite different, isn't it?
But that's the way it is in any language, I think.
You learn English or what I like to call book English in this case or a book language,
but the language that you actually hear, use, and speak out in the street is oftentimes a little
bit different or quite a bit different than what you learn in school or in a class, isn't it?
So I hope you found this episode interesting in this dialogue and you learned something.
Go back and listen to the episode again.
Go back and listen to the dialogue and conversation.
Get used to the rhythm and flow of the language, how words are kind of grouped together
instead of saying each word separately.
They're grouped together and you get kind of one big long mashed up word like I like to say.
So I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Learn Every Day English podcast.
I would love to hear from you and what you thought of this episode.
If you have any questions for me and if you have any suggestions for specific topics
you would like me to discuss on this program, I would love to hear those as well.
Again, just go to the Learn Every Day English webpage and then go to the about page,
which has information about me.
And you will see a contact form where you can send me a message.
Well, that's it for now.
Be sure to check out our upcoming episodes and thank you for listening and goodbye.
