is texas south? was: Southern drawl origin? (non-member query)

[A. Vine]

Lynne Murphy wrote:
>
> Andrea said:
> >
> > Texas is not the South, phonologically and culturally.  It is the West.
> >
>
> I think that depends on what part of Texas you're talking about.  Wacoans very
> proudly assert that the south is to the east of town and the west is to the west
> of it.  In other words, they consider the cotton-growing parts of the state to
> be 'the south' and the cattle-rearing parts to be 'the west'.  Waco has a
> debutante ball, the Cotton Palace, which would be right at home in Georgia, and
> its middle-aged male denizens quite proudly wear the mantle of 'southern
> gentlemen'.
>
> To a northerner like me, it was the size of the hair-dos, rather than the accent
> that made me interpret Waco as pretty darned 'southern' (and the omnipresence of
> Southern Baptists).  But really, I think Texas is neither south nor west, it's a
> creation unto itself.
>

Maybe there were pockets.  But in general, the elements that made up the South
were not part of the entity which became the state of Texas.  There weren't many
plantations, or slaves, Texas did not participate as a state in the Civil War,
etc. etc.  There are certainly debutantes (see Dallas) but I believe this is
more due to oil money or even big ranch money than plantation lifestyle.

The difference most poignant to me is that Texans speak plainly and openly about
what they're thinking, whereas Southerners sugar coat things and are unfailingly
polite.  Obviously this is a gross generalization, but certainly something I
have observed.

Oh yes, and the dialects are different.

It's true that Texas has been independent, had its own battle for independence,
and so it has its own culture.  But if one is lumping cultures, I vote for
Western.