I've read that during WWII there was one town name in the Netherlands that German speakers had a hard time pronouncing. It provided an easy way to pick out the Germans pretending to be Dutch. That was then.
Now we have an easy way to separate the Texans from everyone else in the known universe. All you have to do is wave a Bowie knife in front of them and ask them what it is. Naturally, the Aussies will say "toothpick", but most other people born in North American will give pronouncing "Bowie knife" a shot. As one linguistics researcher in North Carolina named Joshua Katz has discovered, only Texans know how to pronounce "Bowie knife" correctly. Everyone else apparently thinks that an English pop star who was married to a good-looking woman from North Africa was the namesake of the Bowie knife.
I thought you were going to say the word was Bexar, Mexia, Refugio or maybe even Nacogdoches. The first time I heard someone pronounce it a "Boy Knife" it was in elementary school by some kid who had transferred in from out of state. I remember doing a double take and wondering where in the world did he ever hear it called that.
that's a good one kent. maryland has that blue area is because of Bowie, MD, which most locals pronounce 'booey' or 'buoy'
Must of been a bar b q, or a pipeline project in Maryland when they sampled:-)
Thanks for posting that, my life is now complete.
And, here, all these years, I've thought the namesake was a half Southern, half Korean guy named Jimbo Whee.
His co-conspirator from Tennessee was Davey Croquette, right?
around here, we just listen for the phrase , "Back in California..." it's endemic...:-|
Well, I'm not from Texas, but I have always known how to pronounce it. Of couse, mighty few non Texas have any idea who Jim Bowie is.
> Thanks for posting that, my life is now complete.
You may think it's an insipid piece of trivia, but I for one, had thought about this several times in the past. Thanks for posting Kent.
Does the lightly shaded means that it is 50/50 in pronunciation.
That is the problem with these statistical maps.
I say Boo-e and I have seen his signature a few times at courthouses on titles here since he spent most of his life in Louisiana as a timber/land entrepreneur.
Most people here say Boo-e
and of course, this was very popular as a city kid in North Jersey. Everyone had to have a Bowie knife.
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Yes, I agree. Texans do talk funny.
I've always pronounced it "boo". Then again I watched The Alamo a couple of hundred times as a kid.
My gps insists on calling it "Beck-sar". And then there's "How-ston" street in New York City.
Notice that Maryland is the the "Boo-ish" area, unlike the other easterners: Maryland has a town of Bowie-- Boo-wee-- that probably has skewed the results. Whoops: somebody already said that!
You don't want to know what we call that attitude back in California.
Actually, I'm pretty certain you don't care:-)
Don
> around here, we just listen for the phrase , "Back in California..." it's endemic...:-|
Strangely enough we hardly hear that. It's always "...down south" so they don't have to utter the C word.
Chad "I moved here in 2005"
Tiffany "Where from?"
Chad "Down south"
Tiffany "Oh my gosh! Me Too! Where at?"
Chad "Orange County. You?"
Tiffany "San Jose!"
> Texans do talk funny.
At one of the first committee meetings I attended as a newly-minted NSPS Governor, the chairman suggested we all introduce ourselves. The introductions progressed around the table and a gentleman seated directly across from me rose and announced that he was "Jerry Goodson, Texas, retard" and sat down. Two things immediately occurred to me. First, retard is a word best avoided in polite company and, second, why would anybody introduce themselves as one in a gathering of supposed professionals?
It wasn't until I had a couple of personal conversations with Jerry that it dawned on me he was "retired."
> a gentleman seated directly across from me rose and announced that he was "Jerry Goodson, Texas, retard" and sat down.
Yes, I can hear Jerry's Chill Wills accent, even now.
[sarcasm]It's not boo and arrow so why should it be booie knife?[/sarcasm]
Oh, that hurts, Berry.
Especially because my children are named Tiffany and Chad.
Don
