AUSTIN, TX — We here in Texas are bringin’ sexy back, all y’all: According to a recent survey, the accent from those in the Lone Star State is the nation’s sexiest.
That’s according to Big Seven Travel. Analysts scoured the country, listening intently to how people talked. After this exposure to regional accents, intonations and colloquialisms, Texas came out on top.
It’s a nice honor, and we’ll take it. But Texas is a big state, and accents actually differ from region to region. Broadly, those taking part in the survey conveyed an affinity on the strong Rs sprinkled in our speech, along with the liberal use of “Howdy” utilized for emphasis. One person voting for Texas called our manner of speaking as a “Southern accent with a twist.”
Think actor Uvalde, Texas, native Matthew McConaughey’s signature “alright, alright, alright” exclamation, uttered in a laid back, drawn-out manner. That’s the general consensus of what Texans’ speech sounds like. Here’s a mashup of his now-famous phrase:
“Who can resist a slow, Texan drawl?” analysts asked. “Not us, and not our community, clearly. America’s sexiest accent? We’d have to agree.”
Texas edged out Boston in terms of having the sexiest accent, followed by New York, Maine and Chicago rounding out the top 5. The least sexiest accents (according to the study; no judgment here): Long Island. Those in New Jersey, Minnesota, Alaska, the California Valley and South Ohio were cellar dwellers on the list of sexiest accents.
See the full list by clicking here.
So you want to talk like a Texan? We found a tutorial from voice and speech coach Andrea Caban that could serve as a starting point. Acknowledging the wide variety of accents within the state, she opts to teach how to do a general Texas accent while zeroing in on the musicality of speech, focusing on mouth formation, nasality and color yielded from various letter pronunciations, including what she calls a “liquid u” we here in these parts tend to employ while speaking.
Once you’ve mastered the diphthongs and drawls inherent to our language, you might want to apply your newly acquired linguistic skills with common Texas phrases such as “Lord have mercy?” or “How ’bout them Cowboys” or the classic “This ain’t my first rodeo” and others. Tipsy Yak, a Texas expatriate living in Germany, offers a primer:
But be warned, non-Texans. Attempting to replicate the accent ain’t no easy feat, with one generally having been born, bred and buttered here to achieve it. The accent proved challenging even to acclaimed actor Colin Firth who attempted it in the 2011 film “Main Street” with not-so-great results. Texans were madder than a wet hen at the attempt, ant it still hurts the eardrums this many years later:
“Colin Firth is as English as tea and crumpets and not making a fuss. Hearing an American accent come out of his mouth just feels a little wrong, particularly when it’s a really mangled Texan accent that starts out sounding a bit like an impression of Bill Clinton and then, just in the space of this clip, gradually becomes a very, very oil prospector from a cartoon, a review from ShortList wrote.
Ouch. So, basically, don’t do that. But bless your heart, Colin.
Once you’ve mastered the accent, you might want to move on to yodeling. Here’s the late, great Don Walser — who was known as the Pavarotti of the Plains — showing us all how it’s done.
You can do it. Keep practicing that sexy Texas accent, and soon we reckon it’ll be as thick as fleas on a farm dog. Take care, now!