Is George's Texas drawl becoming more pronounced?

[cliss]

And why is that? I just noticed in these last 3 debates how thick his Texas Accent is. I don't remember it being that way 4 years ago.

What about his other family members? I've never heard Barbara or George Senior with a Texas accent. Nor Jeb. I haven't heard the other siblings speak so I don't know.

Can you have a 'Progressive Accent'?

[skygazer]

1. It's a fake accent

Comes and goes depending on where he is. And it bugs the crap out of me. "Yoo-nited States", "Missoura". What a moran the man is!

[Big Kahuna]

2. It's his degenerative brain disorder getting worse.

[Skidmore]

3. That accent has never really sounded Texan, southern, or

even midwestern to me. He sounds like a drunk trying to convice a cop that he's perfectly sober. He slurs when he speaks like this and over enunciates. He hisses the words with the letter "s" in them.

[hatrack]

4. I don't know if that's a Texas drawl - it does come and go

All I know is that he got more and more mush-mouthed as the night went on, pretty much mirroring the campaign to date. Does mush-mouthed and mumbly = Texas? I don't know, but I hope a Texan can explain.

[flordehinojos]

5. I read somewhere that he speaks in the texas drawl and in his almost

"English as a Second Language" sentences when he is unsure, uncomfortable, or feels that he is not surrounded by adoring fans.

It is almost as if his drawl and poor language skills become a compass to his state of being.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. It's almost comic

Paul Begala is from Texas. He doesn't talk that way.

Lyle Lovett just about personifies Texas. He has an accent, but it's no nearly as overpowering as Bush's.

Sandra Bullock. Texan. Speaks intelligibly.

Sissy Spacek. Texan. Has accent; also speaks intelligibly.

Slim Pickens. Yes, Slim Pickens. He was as Texan as it was possible for a human being to get. He had a great speaking voice for drama, and his comedy was sublime.

George Bush. Native of Connecticut. Wears his Texas accent like a low-rent thug who splashes on the cheap cologne to hide the odors of his unwashed underwear and criminal activity.

I've never met anyone from Texas who had as thick an accent as Bush, and I had relatives from there. Friends, too. I dated a young woman who grew up in San Antonio.

If'n ah was from the Lone Star State, raht about now ah'd be larnin' myseff some French. Just out of shame.

Texans, you've got a great state. I promise I won't hold George W. against you if you promise to never saddle America with another low-down, four-flushing varmint again.

And I'll even make it worth your while. Next time you're in Pennsylvania -- the beer's on Rick Santorum!

--bkl

[soothsayer]

7. he turns it on and off to be folksy. Last night he tried a RR whisper

technique, where his voice would get really soft like he was telling you a bedtime story. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[tom_paine]

8. Fake accent, designed by psychoengineers

Hell yes, it's becoming more pronounced.

[rogerashton]

9. He has to remember to drawl.

So he was probably sharper last night than previously.

In fairness, many southerners learn to drawl on order. I have. It is useful because of the anti-southern, anti-rural prejudice that Big Kahuna, in particular, expressed. One needs to have a "respectable" accent in one's portfolio. When she was five, my eldest niece could shift at will among the accents of Mobile, Alabama, Shreveport, Louisiana, and central Arkansas, all of which are distinguishable to the knowledgeable ear.

[wildflower]

10. I noticed "ve-hi-cle" again last night.

As in "unmanned ve-hi-cles."

-wildflower

[Maddy McCall]

11. As a native Texan, I am here to tell you that Bush's accent is not Texan.

Don't know what it is, but as a native Texan who has visited every corner of the state, I can tell you that he didn't get that accent in the Lone Star State.

It's manufactured, if you ask me.