Is the word twang offensive?

Hello. “Twang” is an imprecise word that can be used to refer to various sounds. People sometimes use it instead of “accent” to talk about people’s accents, but I don’t regard the two words as fully interchangeable. “Twang” may sound vaguely insulting or derogatory to your listener.

What’s the difference between a draw and a twang?

The drawl, which is more common in the Deep South, tends to drop the “R” sound and sounds softer to the ear as syllables are drawn out. The twang, which is more common as you head further north and west, is more faster and sharper to the ear. The twang can sound almost nasally and the “R” sound is more pronounced.

What does it mean to speak with a twang?

1a : nasal speech or resonance. b : the characteristic speech of a region, locality, or group of people. 2 : a harsh quick ringing sound like that of a plucked banjo string. 3a : an act of plucking.

How do Texans greet each other?

“Howdy” – the official Texas greeting “Howdy” is so much more than a comical phrase uttered by Woody, the cowboy from Toy Story. Howdy is actually used as a common greeting used by true Texans. It’s a mashup of “How do ye?” or, if you want to be all uptight about it, it’s a way to say, “How do you do?”.

What is the Southern accent called?

drawl
The Southern American English drawl, or “Southern drawl,” involves vowel diphthongization of the front pure vowels, or the “prolongation of the most heavily stressed syllables, with the corresponding weakening of the less stressed ones, so that there is an illusion of slowness even though the tempo may be fast.”

Where did the word twang originate?

twang (n.) 1550s, of imitative origin. Originally the sound of plucked bows and strings; extension to “a nasal vocal sound” is first recorded 1660s. The verb is first attested 1540s. Related: Twanged; twanging.

Where does the Texas accent come from?

As one nationwide study states, the typical Texan accent is a “Southern accent with a twist”. The “twist” refers to inland Southern U.S., older coastal Southern U.S., and South Midland U.S. accents mixing together, due to Texas’s settlement history, as well as some lexical (vocabulary) influences from Mexican Spanish.

Who owns Twang?

and Patrick are also involved in the business as partners. Longtime family friend Edmundo Macias is director of marketing and innovation. In all, Twang employs 60 “Twangers,” including two food scientists, at its manufacturing plant and a 25,000-square-foot warehouse on W.T. Montgomery Road in far west Bexar County.

What is the origin of the Texas twang?

That said, the “Texas Twang”is the result of the collision between east and west. As mentioned in other posts, it comes out in the most unusual places, usually unknown to the speaker. I’ll use myself as an example. My accent is much more southern.

What does “twang” mean?

But “Twang” refers to the tendency to turn a monophthong into a diphthong or tripthong, and generally to do it with a strange combination of deep and almost a nasally tone of voice. I speak this way, so it is impossible for me to hear, but I had a linguist friend explain it to me, years ago.

Does Texas have a twang or a drawl?

Texas has both a twang and a drawl, really the only state that has both. A drawl is the tendency to stretch words out, but in a single syllable, as in Gomer Pyle’s famous “Gaw-aw-lee” version of the word “Golly”.

What is the Texas accent called?

Photo © Stuart Seeger, licensed Creative Commons Attribution. Texas boasts several accents within its own border, from the slowly stretched-out East Texas drawl, to border-hopping Spanglish known as Tex-Mex, to the tight twang of the Panhandle and West Texas.