
Norwegians Use the Word “Texas” as Slang to Mean “Crazy” - jtoll
http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/yall-norwegians-use-the-word-texas-as-slang-to-mean-crazy/
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aggieben
Texan here: this makes me kinda proud.

As a side note: I briefly lived in the UK. Once while on vacation on the
continent a tour guide asked everyone in the group where we came from. The
other Americans in the group all said "America" or "the States", but we said
"Texas". The tour guide said that's always what Texans say.

:-)

~~~
superplussed
As an American living in Germany, all I can say is: you guys are the Bavaria
of the U.S.

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jusben1369
"like the “wild west,” and at least back when the expression was coined, the
“wild west” held very strong Texas associations" \- I think that's the key
before anyone gets upset. Sounds like it's a holdover/modification of the way
Americans use/d "wild west"

~~~
V-2
People rarely read beyond headlines, so brace yourself for long-winded debates
over George W., modern day gun control etc.

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yc1010
I live on the far west edge of Europe, unfortunately a lot of the population
have a screwed stereotype vision of Americans and the US.

Some of it might be deserved (the Bush years done incredible damage to the
reputation of the US) a lot of it is not, and this is coming from my multiple
experiences over the years of visiting almost every one of the lower 48
states.

As for Texas its probably one of my more favourite locations in US (behind
Arizona, Utah and Georgia), these Norwegians should stereotype less and travel
a bit more they be in for a pleasant surprise and the place aint that crazy ;)

~~~
reverend_gonzo
I remember when I first when backpacking across Europe. (I'm American, by the
way). This was around 2003 or 2004. I had this preconceived notion that
Americans were generally idiotic, and Europeans were much more knowledgable in
world affairs. What I came to realize was that they are just as retarded as we
are, but have more access to distinct cultures/languages because of how small
countries are over there. They don't realize that while we're all "Americans",
there is a massive difference between in people from Miami, Houston, New York,
and Boise. Just because we speak the same language and use the same currency
doesn't make us all the same.

As for the reputation of the States, I found there was a dislike of American
politics, but not Americans in general. And jokes made about us are just that:
jokes. We do the same about other countries, races, etc.

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aggieben
Agreed. "Man on the street" works every bit as well in London or Paris or
Munich as it does in LA.

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hcrisp
Somewhat related: As an (northern, not southern) American tourist, I was
visiting Scotland when I left my car in a parking deck after hours. I buzzed
the gate-keeper to unlock the gate, and upon hearing my accent he said, "What?
Do you not read signs? Ah, you're from Texas; the lone-star state. We don't
have guns here. We're much more civilized." I had not mentioned anything
related to Texas. Speaks a lot of his thought process, however.

~~~
jusben1369
I couldn't get your point. Was the gate not actually locked and you had
assumed it would be? I assume you came back with some equally witty country
stereotype like "well being Scottish I'm just glad you're sober after 6pm"

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hcrisp
No, sorry, I should have mentioned the parking deck closed early, and was
signed (though not in an prominent way) as such. So we could not get out. We
made no witty reply, but did have a good laugh about it later.

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jgalt212
The first time I ever heard the phrase "Texas Hedge" was on the floor the
Chicago Mercantile exchange. So maybe people in Chicago also think Texans are
a bit crazy too.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_hedge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_hedge)

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Cshelton
I was born in Texas and have lived here for most of my life. I travel a lot
and get to see many locales and cultures, especially in the US.

Texas really has two sides to it:

There is the traditional 'Texas' that most people outside of Texas probably
think of. It's the guy on his land that walks around with his gun in one hand
and the bible in the other, literally and metaphorically. Many of these people
are close minded to new thoughts or ideas. They don't like anything that
doesn't fit in with how they were raised. You will find many girls saying, "I
want a man who's country." When you ask them what that means, they say, "has
good family values, hard working, owns a truck" and many others of course.
I've even said, "Well I live in downtown Dallas, so I'm not 'country' in that
aspect, but I do believe in strong family values...and well I don't own a
truck because I simply don't need one." And I'm immediately rejected. And told
that I can't have good morals/values...This has happened to me several times.
I do have to say that these people are still nice. For the most part they will
not be rude to you, and they will keep a smile. Yes, they are highly ignorant,
but at least they are..for the majority of them, polite and non violent about
it.

Then there is the other side of Texas. This is usually in the cities...Dallas,
Austin, Houston, and various suburbs. These places have probably some of the
nicest people I've met in the U.S. Many people in these cities aren't even
from Texas. They have had some of the most job growth in the nation in the
last few years. Most people here are completely opposite of what most people
from outside think of Texas think of.

Some of my friends recently visited me in Dallas, who had also never been to
Texas before, said "This is not at all what I was expecting...I love Dallas!".
We have some of the top schools in the nation, some very nice people, a
ridiculously good economy, lower cost of living and mild winters. (Ok, the
traffic is getting really bad here because the highways can't keep up with the
population growth...). Many of my friends moved here because their job moved
here, and they said initially they were pretty disappointed in having to move
to Texas. Now, they won't leave. These friends are from Seattle, Washington
D.C., NYC, SF, LA, Chicago, Den, all over.

I encourage anyone who has not visited Texas before to give it a shot, go to
Dallas, Austin and around those areas, you're in for a surprise.

~~~
_delirium
South Texas is a third cultural area, also mostly small towns and rural, but
majority Spanish-speaking, and quite a bit different culturally than the Anglo
parts of rural Texas.

However I don't think Norwegians using this slang term are thinking of any of
those kinds of Texas. They're instead thinking of the Texas where you ride
into town on a horse with a six-shooter hanging from your belt, kicking up a
cloud of dust while banjo music plays furiously, jump off your horse, and
burst through swinging saloon doors.

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unvs
It's sad to see some people get defensive and try to pit this as a "europe vs
the US" thing, even bringing up the Utøya tragedy and Breivik. The article is
just click bait, and sensationalism at its worst.

"Texas" is a slang to mean "wild west", like they say further into the
article. I don't know why they try to pin it as "crazy". It doesn't have
anything to do with stereotypes. It stems from old westerns and has been in
our language for decades. "Texas" in the 60s and 70s was Bonanza, cowboys and
spaghetti westerns for most people in Norway. The expression just stuck.
That's how language works.

~~~
dogma1138
But Texas wasn't really the wild west, the "wild west" was mostly what now are
the central and north western states and California.

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bagosm
Nothing wrong with the article itself but hacker news seems to be going
south... pun possibly intended

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newobj
This comment section is awful, and might be my personal HN sharkjump moment.

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api
Reminds me of something I read once in an excellent article about the making
of the film "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" \-- that the New York film reviewers
seemed to think the scariest world in the title wasn't chainsaw or massacre
but "Texas." :)

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mcantelon
Ironic given that movie came out in the 70s, the "Fear City" era of New York.

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lurkinggrue
Man, that article is texas.

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johansch
As a Swede that has visited Norway probably 60+ times (I've worked for
norwegian companies since 2004 - cause oil money) I have noticed they have an
affinity to reuse English words for different purposes, sort of like the
germans.

I also get the impression that their vocabulary changes quicker than that of
most other countries, perhaps due to the small size of the population.

~~~
_delirium
Could be tech-specific, but in the Danish tech industry Norwegians are often
found funny for the opposite reason, that they more often invent translated
native terms for things where Danes use a loanword. For example a Dane would
"download" a file, while a Norwegian would "laste ned" (literally "load down")
the file.

~~~
johansch
Gulebøj. :)

(Banana!)

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theworstshill
Any of you fine fellows typing this from your mobility scooters?

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KirinDave
Well that we should, if you look at what Texas does to our textbook selection
process for the entire US.

(Edit: downvote me all you want, but it's Texas that's enabling intelligent
design proponents to inject their nonsense into our science textbooks. Similar
factions are using that inroad to whitewash history, as well)

~~~
GFK_of_xmaspast
In fairness, there are dozens of other states who would happily do the same,
but don't have the single-market pull to manage it.

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KirinDave
Yes, in a hypothetical alternate universe where Texas is not Texas, Texas
would not have the requisite properties to do what Texas does. You're right,
let's be fair.

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mcantelon
Anders Breivik was certainly texas.

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GFK_of_xmaspast
In Texas, a dude who murdered 77 people would have already faded into the
background by now (unless he did it in a memorable way, like Charles Whitman)

~~~
mcantelon
Texas has over 5 times the population of Norway and I don't think there's ever
been a spree killer there that even got close to Breivik's 75 victims (but I'm
happy to be corrected). But it seems likely spree killing is more common in
Texas than Norway.

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xlm1717
Meanwhile, Texans are not even vaguely aware were "Norwegia" is. (More of a
statement as to how important Norway is on the world stage than Texans'
geographic knowledge)

