The "awl bidness" (aka oil business) has run Texas for quite a while. I saw this joke and just wanted to share: Two women were walking, and a frog said, "Excuse me, ladies. I was a rich Texas oil baron but a witch turned me into a frog. If one of you will kiss me, I'll turn into my former self and be yours forever." One lady bent over, picked up the frog and put him in her purse. The other lady asked if she wasn't going to kiss the frog, and the first lady replied, "Shoot no. A talking frog is worth a lot more than a Texas oilman."
I loved this one and it's oh, so true!! Just nipping out back to see if any of my frogs feel like chatting.
We laughed real hard at that one, Jane. Mart, the prices are 1.60 euro’s a quart here. There’s four quarts in a gallon, right? Do the math. You my have somethin there.
MG You know only the old timers would know what Awl Bidness relates to Oil business ! But thats the way many pronounce it ! Its a Texas thing !
That makes me an old timer.. Never liked the sound of the 'proper' pronunciation of the word oil so I have always pronounced it awl. As a kid we could always recognize the Yankees stationed at the local Air Force Base from the Texans by the way they pronounced that one word. : ) But on the other hand if not for a certain Yankee who moved down here from Pennsylvania with his children back in the very early 1900's I would not be here today. Oh, and he moved here to continue his awl well shooting business...making nitro to do it with.
You know the US is such a large country, it makes sense that we would have a lot of room for very different accents. My mom was born and raised in Boston. She had the thickest Boston accent you'd ever want to hear. As a kid, my friends would ask me where she was from. I was once in a 7-11 behind a guy from somewhere in the south, asking for ice. It took 3 people trying to understand it was ice he was looking for. And have you ever heard a Scotsman? ( I'm get a little far a field here, Scotland) One came to work at my husband's company. I had the hardest time understanding him. It sounded like his words were coming from deep in his throat.
Great story, Cayu. My country is very small compared to the u.s. but we have more accents and dialects than I can count. Those were good examples that you gave. I know the accents that you have listed there. You know, there is this way that some people pronounce the “I” that is very difficult for me to transliterate. I have noticed that the way that southern people there pronounce the “I” is very similar to the “I” in the Amsterdam accent and the way it is pronounced in some parts of Australia and even Britain. I have never been able to discover where these certain areas are though.
