Of Language

For the umpteenth time, I've heard this commercial for something that I simply haven't the interest in remembering. But there's this one line that catches my ear each time it's on. The commercial insists that the edible product is "made with real ingredients". Well, yeah! Whatever it is it's made of, they're ingredients. And if you're going to put them in your mouth, chew them up, and swallow them, they're real.

Oh! I'm not totally dense. I know what they're trying to say. Yet my brain wanders off into the real vs. fake ingredient tangent, so I'm not sure I've ever heard the name of the product being hawked.

Then, to amble off in the direction of accents, The Penster and I were taking our evening stroll in the cool(?) of the day. With it being a holiday weekend and somewhat reasonable temperatures, there were quite a few people outside visiting with each other and sharing transient pleasantries with passersby.

On the back leg of our circuit, we crossed paths with a gentleman headed to his car. I asked how he was doing. He said he would be much happier if it was cooler. I agreed. On the basis of about 8 words, he asked me if I was from Texas. !!!

Now I've lived huge hunks of my life in Texas. We moved here from Ohio when I was 2 and I didn't move to Oklahoma until I was 40. I only sojourned in Oklahoma for about 7 years, so you'd think there'd be a heavy dose of Texas in my accent. Those very early years, plus the fact that my parents grew up in Ohio/Pennsylvania/West Virgina, must have had a lasting effect on my accent.

I wonder just what it is that doesn't sound Texan to them?