Beer Bread
Beer bread is a German tradition, usually made with rye bread. Texas has large German influences, so it's no surprise that beer bread has become a large part of Texas cuisine. Until the 1970s,…
Archive for 09/2007
Kerrvert or Kervert (Kerrville resident or Kerrville folk festival enthusiast)
"Kerrvert" (sometimes lower-case as "kerrvert," and also sometimes "Kervert," like "pervert") is a Kerrville resident or an enthusiast of the Kerrville Folk…
RAMBO (Right After Manhattan Bridge Overpass)
RAMBO (Right After the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is similar to DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). In 2005, RAMBO (suggested by Heath Binder and Adam Wills) won a Curbed.com…
Beirut or Bar Ridge (Bay Ridge)
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn has had two nicknames in recent years, both playing with its official name. Bay Ridge has been called "Bar Ridge" because of its many bars on Third Avenue and Fifth…
Donkey Tails (hot dogs with cheddar cheese in a tortilla, then fried)
"Donkey Tails" achieved some popularity in 2006, when they were served at the Texas State Fair and at Tolbert's Restaurant in Grapevine (near Dallas). The dish -- containing no…
Texas Bubble Gum Machine (police car)
"Texas bubble gum machine" was a description of a police car in the popular movie Smokey and the Bandit (1977). The term seems not to be used anywhere else. Urban DictionaryTexas Bubble…
Texas Fairy Tale (“Y’all ain’t gonna believe this” instead of “Once upon a time”)
According to the joke, the difference between a "fairy tale" and a "Texas fairy tale" is how it begins. A fairy tale begins "Once upon a time..." A Texas fairy tale…
False Alarm Chili (1-Alarm Chili; 2-Alarm Chili; 3-Alarm Chili)
Fire departments have their false alarms, two-alarm fires, three-alarm fires, etc. This alarm system to describe the hotness of chili was first used by Wick Fowler, Dallas newspaperman and chili…
See Texas First (See America First)
"See Texas First" is a travel insert in Texas newspapers that's published in the spring and the fall each year, sponsored by the Texas Travel Industry Association. The phrase is…
“TCU is like a cockroach” (UT football coach Darrell K. Royal)
In 2007, the University of Texas put Texas Christian University back on its football schedule and the old "cockroach quote" surfaced. In 1961, TCU upset #1-ranked Texas 6-0. In 1962, UT…
“You can board a train at dawn and, twenty-four hours later, still be in Texas”
"You can board a train at dawn and, twenty-four hours later, still be in Texas" was made into a popular joke in the 1930s and 1940s. 14 October 1931, Middlesboro (KY) Daily News, pg. 2,…
“Bring it on!” (“Bring ‘em on!”)
"Bring it on!" is so common that no definitive origin can be traced. On the American Dialect Society list, word researcher Grant Barrett wrote: "I've checked the usual places,…
“Hair, Horns and Holler” (ingredients of a cowboy stew)
What are the ingredients of the famous "son-of-a-bitch" stew? According to some sources, the ingredients are "hair, horns, and holler." The term is sometimes given as…
County Attorney or District Attorney (son-of-a-gun stew)
"County Attorney" and "District Attorney" are names that were applied to "son-of-a-gun stew." Attorneys weren't held in high regard by the cowboys who made and…
Texas Mile (country mile)
A "Texas mile" is similar to a "country mile" -- it's a long distance. Texas is big, so a "Texas mile" would be something longer than your average mile.…
Shootout (an athletic competition, such as the “Red River Shootout”)
The wild west had many "shoot-outs" (or "shootouts"). From about the 1960s, athletic competitions (mostly football games) began to be called "shootouts." The annual…
“You can trust your car to the man who wears the star” (Texaco ad jingle)
"You can trust your car to the man who wears the star" has been Texaco's advertising jingle from 1962 (not the 1940s, as incorrectly listed on some websites). The Texaco advertising…
“An atheist is a man who buys a ticket to the Notre Dame-SMU game and doesn’t care who wins”
SMU and Notre Dame both had great football teams in the 1950s, and both are Christian-based universities. A famous quip became: "An atheist is a man who buys a ticket to the Notre Dame-SMU…
“Ingredients for Life” & “Your Remarkable Store” (Randalls slogans)
Randalls is a Texas-based food and drug store chain. Randalls joined the Safeway chain of supermarkets in 1999; since 2005, the slogan of both companies has been "Ingredients for Life."…
Treaty Oak (of Austin)
Is the "Treaty Oak" of Austin fact or fiction? The Treaty Oak is located in Austin in a city park of Baylor Avenue, between Fifth and Sixth Streets. The tree is believed to be more than…