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 insaniak wrote:

 Big H wrote:
... Most Yanks...

On a side note, Americans may be confused and/or offended if you refer to them as 'Yanks' to their face...

Especially if they are from Mexico or Brazil...

 Grey Templar wrote:
Piss and Vinegar doesn't qualify as BBQ

It's ok, I understand that some people are delicate flowers who can't handle a proper vinegar sauce and have to eat ketchup on a dead cow.

 Grumblewartz wrote:
General tips:
Americans say, "I'm Irish-German," not because they don't want to be American as the previously ill-informed poster commented, but because we are all rather recent immigrants (historically speaking) and the average American knows quite a lot about their ancestry as a result. It is also a way for people to connect to strangers.

It's still a bit weird for people from other countries. Mostly because most Americans say "I'm Irish" instead of "My grandfather was from Ireland" or "I have Irish ancestors".
I vividly remember meeting a girl soon after I arrived in the US who told me "I'm Italian", like 3 minutes after I met her. So I assumed she meant she was from Italy (despite her perfect English, but some people are very good with languages), and I then started speaking Italian. Turns out some of her grandparents were Italians who moved to the US, but her parents and herself were born and raised in the US. She didn't speak any Italian, didn't know much about Italy, had never been there, and considered American-Italian food to be genuine Italian food. While there's absolutely nothing wrong with embracing your heritage, or creating a new sub-culture (Italian-American in this case), it was still very confusing to me, and is indeed a different social norm between the US and France (and I assume the UK), so it relates to the OP.
I agree it has nothing to do with not wanting to be American, as pretty much every American person who says "I'm Irish/Italian/German/whatever" will also gladly consider themselves true Americans, and can be very patriotic as most Americans are.

But yeah, you should be prepared to hear people reply to "I'm English" with something like "Oh nice, I myself am Irish", even though they might not know much about Ireland or Irish culture. That should explain their lack of accent.

I have worked with a lot of Texans and like others have said there is no one kind of Texan, I had the good (mis)fortune of working with some of the craziest foul mouthed self mocking people of my entire life, miss those dumb cowboys.

Texans are pretty easy-going. I like them.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
1.I’m a smoker (tobacco only. I’m not daft!), but prefer my roll ups to straights. Upside is they’re far cheaper. Downside is to the untrained eye I may appear to be smoking a Doobyspliffjoint. Seeing as I not only enjoy my civil liberties, but also don’t want to waste Police time from a simple misunderstanding, is it better if just for the trip I buy regular ciggies?

You're fine. A good deal of adults and certainly police will know what burning pot smells like. Doubly so if you're in the sticks (countryside) or in a city.

2. I do like a drink. Beer is my preferred tipple, and I can’t half stick it away. But again, I don’t want to cause or encounter trouble. What’s the done thing when it comes to enjoying a beverage or eight?

You must try the craft brewing scene. Certain breweries have extensive open space + bar top for people to hang around their brewery to drink beer, socialize and play traditional tailgate games (corn hole, giant jenga, hook and ring). Good time to pass the afternoon then pop over to get tacos, pho, bbq whatever.

I'm sure you have food trucks in the UK, in the US there's a style of bar where space/utilities are provided to food trucks to park around the drinking area (always patio seating) to cater to the drunks directly at their watering hole. The food truck prices are usually highway robbery tho.

In sub/urban Texas you'll find a lot of 'patio' bars designed around patio seating, warm weather and cheap land. Usually half or over half of the bar will be open air and uncovered with a small fence around it. Norms for the patio are generally an extension of its distant ancestor: backyard drinking. Bring your dogs, pet other people's dogs, drink+smoke in the sun and watch sports.

3. Eye contact in public. In London, it’s generally a no-no. One certainly doesn’t strike up conversation at the bus stop or in general. But in Texas? Is the person chatting the odd’un, or it is me for not?

That sort of thing. It’s not so much I want to blend in seamlessly - I just want to ensure I’m being as polite as possible and don’t ruffle feathers that don’t need ruffling.

People are more likely to be friendly/talkative to obvious tourists. You may run into people who pride themselves on 'southern friendliness'. If someone goes into American politics in your first meeting, it's a bit like a new acquaintance who brings up way too personal topics in convo. They're weirdos.

Oh, and swearing. I’m normally quite sweary. Is this something I’d need to rein in as I do at work?

Act like you're at home.

@MadDoc: Just a thought ... How about switching the baccy for a decent vape for your trip? Some of the best vaping stuff (mods & juices) is made in the USA anyway ... Kill a couple of birds?

Also when are you coming? Texas can be extremely hot like 105-110 in Central and West Texas. The coast is less hot but the the humidity is strong enough that fish breath freely in the sir.

It was 91 here Saturday.

 Frazzled wrote:
Also when are you coming? Texas can be extremely hot like 105-110 in Central and West Texas. The coast is less hot but the the humidity is strong enough that fish breath freely in the sir.

It was 91 here Saturday.

I don't understand how people can live in that climate, everyone basically strips and collapses if it reaches 20C here.

Some people are fine with swearing but you may find that you get some angry looks from more uptight conservative types. Around construction workers, military guys, or "manly" types it'll be pretty much every other word. Two thing to avoid, the first is n****r, negro, or any variant of it, while it's constantly thrown around in movies and pop culture it's still considered extremely racial in the states and especially if it's being said by a white guy. (referring to somebody as black is usually ok as long as it's not in a negative manner (African-America is the PC version but not used as much) Don't use it trying to be edgy even with close friends, it's never a good idea.

The second is c**t referring to female genitals, in the UK it's pretty common place as a general purpose swear word but in the states for some reason it's one of the nastiest things you can say especially directed at a woman. If you tell a woman "Don't be a c**t" it's going to get heated real fast and if she doesn't claw your eyes out herself she'll get her boyfriend/husband/friends involved. Saying someone is a b*tch is still considered fairly rude but for some reason it's less insulting here. Using any of those in public can provoke a serious fight as they are seen as especially vulgar, yet you could call somebody an a-hole, m-fether or use combination of feth excessively and typically most people will get annoyed but some people might not bat an eye. So try and take measure of the type of person and situation you're dealing with before you pull out the sailors index of colorful expressions.

In general try not to swear around the supervisors at a job or when dealing with the public while working, if a friend or co-worker leads with the foul language then fire away, just pay attention to when they suddenly stop like when a boss or particular co-worker comes around as that's usually an indicator that it's unwelcome. Also never swear around kids because even if the parents swear constantly they still don't want it around their kids.

 mrhappyface wrote:

I don't understand how people can live in that climate, everyone basically strips and collapses if it reaches 20C here.

It's not natural, whatever it is. I'm states further north, and we'll still see it top out at 100-110 for about a week or so during the summer, with 90+ (and a good 70% humidity) being the norm through about the hottest 6 weeks or so. I'll STILL see lunatics out there wearing long sleeved shirts.

You have to try




Texans love it. You'd get weird looks if you don't.

Fahrenheit/Celsius. Happyface is having a bit of a laugh at not adjusting scales.

 paulson games wrote:
Some people are fine with swearing but you may find that you get some angry looks from more uptight conservative types. Around construction workers, military guys, or manly types it'll be pretty much every other word. Two thing to avoid, the first is n****r, negro, or any variant of it, while it's constantly thrown around in movies and pop culture it's still considered extremely racial in the states and especially if it's being said by a white guy. (referring to somebody as black is usually ok as long as it's not in a negative manner (African-America is the PC version but not used as much) Don't use it trying to be edgy even with close friends, it's never a good idea.

The second is c**t referring to female genitals, in the UK it's pretty common place as a general purpose swear word but in the states for some reason it's one of the nastiest things you can say especially directed at a woman. If you tell a woman "Don't be a c**t" it's going to get heated real fast and if she doesn't claw your eyes out herself she'll get her boyfriend/husband/friends involved. Saying someone is a b*tch is still considered fairly rude but for some reason it's less insulting here. Using any of those in public can provoke a serious fight as they are seen as especially vulgar, yet you could call somebody an a-hole, m-fether or use combination of feth excessively and typically most people will get annoyed but some people might not bat an eye. So try and take measure of the type of person and situation you're dealing with before you pull out the sailors index of colorful expressions.

In general try not to swear around the supervisors at a job or when dealing with the public while working, if a friend or co-worker leads with the foul language then fire away, just pay attention to when they suddenly stop like when a boss or particular co-worker comes around as that's usually an indicator that it's unwelcome. Also never swear around kids because even if the parents swear constantly they still don't want it around their kids.

Also, we don't have soft drinks here. We have cokes. If someone asks you if you want a coke, they may not specifically mean Coca Cola.

 daedalus wrote:

It's not natural, whatever it is. I'm states further north, and we'll still see it top out at 100-110 for about a week or so during the summer, with 90+ (and a good 70% humidity) being the norm through about the hottest 6 weeks or so. I'll STILL see lunatics out there wearing long sleeved shirts.

Sometimes the long sleeves are about keeping the sun off you and not the heat. I've seen lots of Mexican lawn care guys and field workers all sweating away in long sleeve shirts and pants when it's 100-110 that way they don't get burned. Cowboys also follow this lead and are usually wearing jeans, long shirt and wide brim hat. Meanwhile the dumb white guys are stripped down to a wife beater or are shirtless while glowing cherry red with sunburn.

 Frazzled wrote:
Also, we don't have soft drinks here. We have cokes. If someone asks you if you want a coke, they may not specifically mean Coca Cola.

This is true, particularly in the South where every pop or soda can be referred to as Coke. The first time I was exposed to that was in Atlanta and I heard somebody ask for a "Pepsi-Coke", if you ask for a Coke you might get a reply like do you want a Coke- Coke? or a Dr Pepper- Coke? Simple way to side step that is just ask for the brand, it's a regional thing that's a bit odd to hear the first couple of times.


In Eastern Texas which is close to Louisiana *everything* gets hot sauce added to it, even plain white bread gets a dab of heat so you'll see it on every table.

Exactly! If you are out all the time in the sun you want to be protected.

 paulson games wrote:

 daedalus wrote:

It's not natural, whatever it is. I'm states further north, and we'll still see it top out at 100-110 for about a week or so during the summer, with 90+ (and a good 70% humidity) being the norm through about the hottest 6 weeks or so. I'll STILL see lunatics out there wearing long sleeved shirts.

Sometimes the long sleeves are about keeping the sun off you and not the heat. I've seen lots of Mexican lawn care guys and field workers all sweating away in long sleeve shirts and pants when it's 100-110 that way they don't get burned. Meanwhile the white guys are stripped down to a wife beater or are shirtless while glowing cherry red with sunburn.

Yeah, that makes sense. My hangup is when it's the people in my already uncomfortably-too-hot office.

 Scrabb wrote:
Fahrenheit/Celsius. Happyface is having a bit of a laugh at not adjusting scales.

I adjusted the scales, 90F is about 30C which is absolutely boiling.

 mrhappyface wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
Also when are you coming? Texas can be extremely hot like 105-110 in Central and West Texas. The coast is less hot but the the humidity is strong enough that fish breath freely in the sir.

It was 91 here Saturday.

I don't understand how people can live in that climate, everyone basically strips and collapses if it reaches 20C here.

He's just being Texan and bragging about the heat. It was 70 and pleasant up here in Dallas; it's spring in Texas so weather's weird.

We've had mild summers for the last few years, only hits 100+ F (38+C) for a week or two mostly just hovers in the high 80s and 90s F (around 30 C). Everyone just wears light clothing and avoids doing anything outdoors that's labor intensive in the afternoon. Like roofing houses as early as possible. The trade off is except for the winter, high waist shorts are always in fashion.

Well, predictably for an unashamed fanboy, I’ll be visiting the neck of the woods the Warhammer Citadel is being opened.

Fighting? I’m a wuss. No chance of fisticuffs or othe assorted pugilism. And if does come to that, I do a mean toe punt to the delicate flobbily-dobblies. So hopefully that’ll serve to give me legging it time.

Accent! Better than English, I’m Scottish.

I’m thinking of visiting around September time. UK school hols are over by then, as is LARPing season. So I’ll save money and not miss out on lapidating gribblies with a latex weapon.

And yes, I will be gorging on Barbecue and TexMex. Would be silly not to, no?

Politics etc I’m sensible enough to keep to myself in polite conversation.

Gun Ranges....is that a touristable thing? Might as well give it some dakka when the opportunity presents!

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
September time

Oh, football season. If you have the time, you should stop by a college tailgate.

Gun Ranges....is that a touristable thing? Might as well give it some dakka when the opportunity presents!

Yes, very much so. In fact it's nearly considered a state wide morale failing if someone doesn't take you shooting in Texas. Since you're stopping by Citadel Cafe, I can PM you a gun range that will rent you a full auto machine gun if you'd like.

 avantgarde wrote:

 mrhappyface wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
Also when are you coming? Texas can be extremely hot like 105-110 in Central and West Texas. The coast is less hot but the the humidity is strong enough that fish breath freely in the sir.

It was 91 here Saturday.

I don't understand how people can live in that climate, everyone basically strips and collapses if it reaches 20C here.

He's just being Texan and bragging about the heat. It was 70 and pleasant up here in Dallas; it's spring in Texas so weather's weird.

We've had mild summers for the last few years, only hits 100+ F (38+C) for a week or two mostly just hovers in the high 80s and 90s F (around 30 C). Everyone just wears light clothing and avoids doing anything outdoors that's labor intensive in the afternoon. Like roofing houses as early as possible. The trade off is except for the winter, high waist shorts are always in fashion.

It was literally 91 here. Austin typically breaks 100 for about a month. South Texas and West Texas are hotter.

September is better. Hurricanes typically past and the heat is lightening up. Usually more rain too which is good.

Citadel Cafe? Where is that?

Texans will have to check their Bolters at the door, haha

 Frazzled wrote:

Citadel Cafe? Where is that?

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/749877.page

Dallas or Fort Worth, maybe it looks like?

Thanks. Grapevine is just outside Dallas.

Just as a side, what is it about the British accent that other countries seem to love so much? And is it just the middle class southerner accent or do you guys love Cockney, Northerner, Welsh, Scottish, etc.?

I honestly don't know. My boss is a Brit and he's a total bastard, so it's not just the accent. I think the turn of phrase has a lot to do with it. Maybe it's the "dark sarcasm in the classroom"!

Could be some cultural thing? I mean, I was probably just past the tail end of it generationally speaking, but I grew up listening to a lot of the British invasion bands and watching Flying Circus and Are You Being Served and a lot of classic comedy from your general direction.

 mrhappyface wrote:
Just as a side, what is it about the British accent that other countries seem to love so much? And is it just the middle class southerner accent or do you guys love Cockney, Northerner, Welsh, Scottish, etc.?

We pretty much love all of them. It is a novelty thing honestly. Also, the more slang you use, the better. Call something a bonnet and everybody around you is going to come over and be like "I'm sorry, did you just call that car hood a bonnet? Can I get a picture with you?" Then the next thing you know you will be the hot trending topic on somebodies social media account with the tag line "I met a real life Aussie today!"

Edit: Is Welsh really an accent? I thought it was some unintelligible language spoken by people whose vocal cords had not fully evolved.

Don't mistake the walls of "the alamo" for an al fresco outdoor public urinal.

The locals are known to get uppity about it.

I think peeing on historical landmarks, especially ones where a lot of people died is generally frowned on, though. Plus that's in San Antonio, not even close to Dallas.

September in the DFW is still probably going to be pretty warm. Indoor gun ranges are air-conditioned, but usually limited (handguns, no rifles).September 13-16 is also Grapefest in Grapevine, so if you are in the area for that, even better!

And don't knock the Welsh- Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luke Evans, Rhys Ifans, etc. are all Welsh. Even Christian Bale was born there (though he prefers "British").