Lost in translation

Here's my translation guide on West Texan English, for Australians. 

Y'all - Plural you, a contraction of 'you all', widely accepted and to be used at every possible opportunity, and you may hear 'all y'all' which would in Australian English be 'all of youse'. 'Who all' is an interesting variation which makes the word 'who' plural.  Eg. Who all was there?

Itty Bitty - A small object.

Fixer-upper - A house that requires 'fixing up'. Also known in Australia as a renovator's dream.

Fixin' - This word has a number of applications not heard in Australia;
1) planning to. Eg. We are fixin' to go to the store.
2) side dishes. Eg. Turkey with fixins.
3) ingredients. Eg. Salad fixins.
4) making something with above mentioned fixins. Eg fixin' supper.

Pocket book - Can be used to describe a woman's handbag. Or a pocket sized book-wallet hybrid. This was a new one to me, and a little confusing!

Hunky dory - Everything will be alright. Or, Bob's your uncle. I do have an Australian Aunt who says hunky dory, but thought I'd include this one just for fun.

Do-hicky - Thingamy-bob.

We watched Crocodile Dundee recently and were reminded why it's a classic. I can relate to our friend Mick Dundee here. Enjoy the clip! And please share any fun Southern or Texan words I've missed.

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WHERE is Lubbock?

Lubbock is in West Texas, or The Wild West.  If Italy is a boot, imagine Texas as a frying pan (or skillet, if you are from 'round here) and Lubbock is at the base of the pan handle.  It's about five hours to Dallas, six hours to Austin, or nine hours to Houston.  It's a long way to anywhere, so road trips are a regular event, mostly you just get in your car (because everyone has one) and drive straight ahead until you get somewhere.   City streets mostly run North-South and East-West, in numerical and alphabetical order. So very organised!  And in West Texas there's not much to interrupt the road planning; no hills, no forests, just flat dry plains that stretch to the horizon in every direction and a vast blue sky above.  The flatness of the land also allows generous Texas-sized urban sprawl. Why build up, when you can keep building out?

The international borders might be clear cut, but the cultural borders are less so.  It's a long way to the Mexican border, but Spanish is clearly a second local language. Queso anyone?

Are you an Aussie in Texas, or an Texan in Australia? Send me a holler, in the comments below.

The following photos are from the 'hilly' area of Crosbyton, just outside Lubbock.

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