The Texas Two-Step is a popular dance. For the March 4, 2008 Texas presidential primaries, voters were instructed to vote in the primaries -- and then to return after 7 p.m. on election day to vote…
New York Governor Al Smith (1873-1944) said in 1923: "If there are any ills that democracy is suffering from today, they can only be cured by more democracy." The quote was part of a…
"Wop salad" is an "Italian Salad" that became popular with Sicilian immigrants to New Orleans (also famous for the muffuletta sandwich) by at least 1930. The salad can contain…
Entry in progress. Penniless lexicogapher taking a break, attending to pregnant wife -- B.P. Wikipedia: Ted DrewesTed Drewes is a frozen custard shop well-known in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The…
The "Counterfeit Triangle" area of Manhattan that sells counterfeit merchandise is bounded by Canal, Walker, Baxter and Centre Streets. The name "Counterfeit Alley" had been…
Chicken fried shrimp is another attempt to imitate the Texas success of
Mexican food has resulted in some scatalogical language, such as "Mexican food shit" or "Mexican shits," "Mexican food poop," "Mexican food poo," "taco…
Mexican (or Tex-Mex) food can be hot. After eating several jalapeños, it's not unusual to follow that up with ice cream for dessert. An old joke/saying goes that, the following day while…
Southwestern Crab Cakes (or Southwest Crab Cakes) is a seemingly Gulf Coast dish, but it appears perhaps most frequently on restaurant menus in Austin, Texas. "Southwestern crab cakes" is…
Austin's South First Street has about a dozen Mexican food establishments (restaurants/bakeries), all independently owned. South First has been called "Taco Row" (first cited in…
"Painted Desert Soup" is a specialty of the Blue Mesa Grill (various locations, originally in the Dallas area in the 1990s). The soup actually combines two popular Southwestern soups --…
"Gal reminds me of the highway between Fort Worth and Dallas. No curves" is a saying by the cartoon rooster Foghorn J. Leghorn in the 1953 cartoon Of Rice and Hen. Foghorn Leghorn spoke…
"Taco short of a combination plate" is another way of saying that a person is "not all there" or "not playing with a full deck" (called "full deckisms"). The…
Vietnamese fajitas (Bo Nuong Xa) are strips of beef with lemongrass, rolled in rice-paper wrappers (rather than tortillas). Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, sprouts, mint, basil, carrots, jalapeños…
LoCo (Lower Congress Avenue in Austin) is just below SoCo (South Congress Avenue). "Loco" is a Spanish word meaning "crazy," and the unofficial neighborhood nickname has…
Texas has many "capitals" that are designated by the state legislature. All of the "capitals" are cities. The Oasis restaurant on Lake Travis in Austin has such spectacular…
"Margarita Chicken" or "Chicken Margarita" is another name for "Tequila Chicken" or "Chicken Tequila." Like a Margarita cocktail after which it was named,…
Tequila (usually paired with lime juice) began to be added to chicken recipes by at least the 1970s, but the recipes became much more frequent in the 1990s. A 1977 recipe for "Chicken Tequila…
"Vegetable confetti" (or "veggie confetti") is a combination of vegetables that are cooked together. Recipes for "vegetable confetti" date to at least 1930.…
"Welcome to Greenville. The Blackest Land, The Whitest People" was a sign that existed in Greenville (Hunt County) from 1921 until it was removed in the 1960s. The saying was from…