houstonians or houstonites
Jim Riley
>when referring to people from houston, do you say houstonians or houstonites?
Houstonite appears mainly to be used by others. There have been 5
usages in the Chronicle and Post over the past 15 years.
From a Leon Hale column in October 1997
Related terms will be "houstonite ," meaning a person who has moved
from a city to a rural area, and brought changes about. A rural
location changed by a houstonite will have become "houstonized." The
process of change will be "houstonization."
From a October 1997 Chronicle Editorial quoting a Fax to the Jim Rome
Show.
"Houston is as Houston does. They're sophisticated necks! They even
have the courtesy to swallow their chew spit when in the presence of
a lady! And gun racks in the pickup? Every self-respecting
Houstonite knows a gun rack would clash with your chrome naked lady
silhouette mud flaps.
From an August 1991 Thom Marshall column.
Somehow, smack in the middle of the Me Generation, this Stuard
fellow - a white, middle-class Houstonite - developed a social
conscience. And not just a glassy-eyed, flash-in-the-panacea social
conscience that many of us experience temporarily during our college
years. Stuard's is a social conscience with staying power. It is
bigger than ever now and he is 33 years old. Attacking problems at
their roots
From an August 1991 Letter to the Editor (of the Houston Post), from
an Austiniac:
My pond, which is full of tadpoles for most of the year, remains
crystal clear, unlike the toadless and slimy wastelands of less
fortunate water gardeners. If the average Houstonite shows such
disrespect for our amphibious friends, it is no wonder that the
Houston toad is an endangered species.
From a July 1989 Theater Review.
The original production of The Poison Tree opened on a Thursday and
closed on the following Sunday. But its mixed reviews included some
highly favorable notices and its cast boasted Cleavon Little, Moses
Gunn, Houstonite Peter Masterson (co-author of The Best Little
Whorehouse in Texas) and Alley favorite Robert Symonds.
On the other hand there were 653 Chronicle and 610 Post articles that
had 'Houstonian' in the headline (e.g. "Houstonian named Miss
Louisiana").
--
Jim Riley
Jim Riley
>when referring to people from houston, do you say houstonians or houstonites?
I was told that you could tell a native of the Upper Gulf Coast if
they used the verb 'tump', (for instance, to tump a glass of water).
Some time after I heard someone say, "... tump the boat over"
Surprised by the size of the object, I went back to my original source
and asked, "Could you tump a boat over?" Two people overheard
my question.
The New Jerseyan asked, "Tump? What's a tump?"
The native pulled himself up tall and asked, "How big a boat?"
Even Texans have limits.
--
Jim Riley
Professor Vonroach
wrote:
As a 60+ year resident of Houston and the adjacent coast and coastal
waters, I'm a little puzzled. Perhaps you could enlighten both the New
Jerseyite and this Houstonian as to what you mean by `tump'. Have a
good New Jerseyite friend who has become a Houstonian for the last 50+
yrs. who is equally mystified. Perhaps it comes from back in the wilds
of East Texas where they still sit on the porch and spit at wild hogs
when they run out from under the house for amusement? I have `thumped'
quite a few watermelon in my time and have been to a `dump' to dump
trash on occasion, but never heard it call a `tump' unless there was
some speech impediment even by those who work there. It is good policy
not to rock the boat or `turn' it over. Even if a hurricane is coming,
the most that is usually done is to fill it with water and a couple of
weights to see that it sinks quickly and is protected.
Professor Vonroach
wrote:
>On 28 May 2001 06:36:47 GMT, n...@sp.am (nope) wrote:
>
>>when referring to people from houston, do you say houstonians or houstonites?
>
>Houstonite appears mainly to be used by others. There have been 5
>usages in the Chronicle and Post over the past 15 years.
>
>From a Leon Hale column in October 1997
Leon gets paid to make stuff up and fill newspaper space. Ask him, and
I suspect he will grudgingly admit that people out in the country call
Houstonians, `city folks'. Some given to hyperbole may even say `big
city folks'. Leon can't be called an `other' anymore than Walter
Cronkhite, Dan Rather, or a spate of other folks.
Jim Riley
See, you aren't a native. When it was originally explained to me, it
was explained in terms of tumping a glass of water over. I suspect it
might be a portmanteau of 'tip' and 'dump'. I was surprised that it
would be applied to such a large object as a boat.
The dictionary gives two definitions of the verb 'tump'. One is to
form a mass of earth around a plant. A 'tump' n. is a small hillock.
The other definition is to draw or drag along an animal (~ a deer).
A tump-line is a strap placed across the forehead to assist in
carrying a pack.
--
Jim Riley
Jim Riley
His column was about how country folks would eponymize 'Houston' into
'houstonite' and 'houstonize' to describe city folks bringing their
ways to their hobby farms. People in the country would use
houstonize.
--
Jim Riley
Professor Vonroach
wrote:
>>Leon gets paid to make stuff up and fill newspaper space. Ask him, and
>>I suspect he will grudgingly admit that people out in the country call
>>Houstonians, `city folks'. Some given to hyperbole may even say `big
>>city folks'. Leon can't be called an `other' anymore than Walter
>>Cronkhite, Dan Rather, or a spate of other folks.
>
>His column was about how country folks would eponymize 'Houston' into
>'houstonite' and 'houstonize' to describe city folks bringing their
>ways to their hobby farms. People in the country would use
>houstonize.
>
>--
>Jim Riley
Perhaps he spent too much time talking to the strange folks like the
Madam over around Wayside and Navigation? It's a cinch that he never
spent much time out in wave at your neighbor country if he actually
wrote that. I personally have never heard the word `Houstonite' or
`Houstonize' and I suspect he was in a bind for copy if he actually
wrote that. Now you can reply are you comparing your knowledge and
experience with his, and I would reply, "Hell yes - every 60+ years,
minute of it." `Houstonite' sounds as phony as `Austinian' or
`Dallasonian'. Sounds like some damn parasite.
Professor Vonroach
wrote:
>See, you aren't a native. When it was originally explained to me, it
>was explained in terms of tumping a glass of water over. I suspect it
>might be a portmanteau of 'tip' and 'dump'. I was surprised that it
>would be applied to such a large object as a boat.
>
>The dictionary gives two definitions of the verb 'tump'. One is to
>form a mass of earth around a plant. A 'tump' n. is a small hillock.
>The other definition is to draw or drag along an animal (~ a deer).
>A tump-line is a strap placed across the forehead to assist in
>carrying a pack.
The one explanation you missed was that some one with a hair lip or a
cleft palate at one time taught you a few words. In terms of `tumping
a glass of water', the correct phrase is to `spill a glass ...' or
`throw out a glass of water' if the phrase is intended to convey the
meaning refill it with a more potable adult beverage. A small hillock
is called a `mound', including that formed around a plant, in
particular a Rose bush so that `it won't have wet feet'. It must also
be _tamped down_ good so that no air pockets remain around the roots.
Jack Tyler
Jack Tyler
Professor Vonroach <vonr...@popd.ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:3b1832c6...@NNTP.ix.netcom.com...
Jim Riley
(Professor Vonroach) wrote:
>On Sat, 02 Jun 2001 00:19:52 -0500, Jim Riley <jim...@pipeline.com>
>wrote:
>
>>See, you aren't a native. When it was originally explained to me, it
>>was explained in terms of tumping a glass of water over. I suspect it
>>might be a portmanteau of 'tip' and 'dump'. I was surprised that it
>>would be applied to such a large object as a boat.
>>
>>The dictionary gives two definitions of the verb 'tump'. One is to
>>form a mass of earth around a plant. A 'tump' n. is a small hillock.
>>The other definition is to draw or drag along an animal (~ a deer).
>>A tump-line is a strap placed across the forehead to assist in
>>carrying a pack.
>
>The one explanation you missed was that some one with a hair lip or a
>cleft palate at one time taught you a few words.
Jeff Millar writing of his days as a sacker in a grocery store,
I scientifically positioned the sacks in the customers' cars,
leaning in the end bag so that the bags wouldn't tump over nor the
12-pack of six-ounce returnable Cokes start rolling around on the
floorboards when the car cornered or stopped.
Jeff Millar writing about NAFTA,
See, I believe that if you see it on TV, it must be true, and I've
seen the anti-NAFTA commercials. Frankly, I'm scared to death about
the Mexican trucks. If NAFTA passes, you won't be able to get onto
Interstate 45 for the 15-year-old Mexican trucks with bald tires
headed toward Chicago with loads stacked up so high they're about to
tump over. And drivers who can't even read English. And don't think
those trucks are going tobe loaded just with pinatas, either. Go to
Blockbuster, rent either "Wages of Fear"or "Sorcerer". See what I
mean.
From a story about a fishing trip by Margaret Jenkins
"SIT DOWN!" he yelled. "Do you want to tump us over? Damn beavers,
anyway. Government protects 'em, and all they do is tear up stuff."
From a story by Charles Reinken about someone who was dog-sitting,
let the dog get out, and the dog returned with a neighbor's pet
rabbit,
In short order, Donny had the ill-fated bunny's tiny corpse in the
bathtub, shampooing it. He rinsed it twice, and pondered whether to
use styling mousse, but decided on a simple blow-dry. And by golly,
it was just as good as new - unless you count such obvious
shortcomings as not moving.
Under cover of darkness, Donny spirited the elapsed Lop into the
neighbor's yard, lifted the cage door and set it inside. By now, it
was stiffening up and had an unfortunate tendency to tump over. He
propped it up with a water bowl, latched the cage, and made his
retreat.
In an article by David Kaplan about 10 great things about Houston:
Texans also pride themselves on the way they talk. Houstonian Jim
Everhart, author of the six-volume, humorous Illustrated Texas
Dictionary of the English Language, observes some peculiarly Texan
speak: "What kind of bidness are you in?" or "I've got to do the
warsh." Another uniquely Texan word is "tump ," as in "The wagon
tumped over." And naturally, we like to say "howdy."
And a description by Molly Ivins of Bill Clinton (from August 1993):
The best description I got of him came from a lawmaker who said,
"He's like one of those broad-bottomed children's toys that when you
tump it over, it pops back up. No matter how many times you push it
down, it pops right back up again. We reject one of his plans, and
he comes back at us saying, 'OK, why don't we try to do it another
way?' "
--
Jim Riley
Jim Riley
wrote:
>>I was told that you could tell a native of the Upper Gulf Coast if
>>they used the verb 'tump', (for instance, to tump a glass of water).
>
>Natives are always "fixin' to" do something, like go to the store.
Or "fixin' to tump the boat over"
--
Jim Riley
Professor Vonroach
wrote:
>On Mon, 04 Jun 2001 12:08:10 -0500, toddh <webm...@cableid.com>
Or fixthin to tump d' boath ovar. Send to speech therapist, they can
be helped.