Y'all are Fixin' to Git an Education.
There's a spot running on local radio here in Austin, with the VO delivering the business' address on Burnet Road (one of Austin's oldest and busiest thoroughfares). The only problem? He pronounces it "bur-NET" instead of using the first-syllable emphasis commonly known to Austinites. Clearly, our intrepid announcer has the misfortune not to live in our fine city. It doesn't happen often, and I'm surprised that the client, a local business, didn't catch it straight away and order a re-take.
In Texas, it's not just our capital's street names that are stepped on by non-native tongues; glance at a map of the Lone Star state and you'll fall into one of our traps in seconds. The "x" is silent in Bexar, and Manchaca, despite appearances, is a two-syllable name, not three.
Relax, pardner. The fine folks at TexasTripper.com have created an audio guide to Texas' most notoriously mangled monikers. The next time you find yourself reading copy and are unsure of names like Boerne, Elgin, or Gruene, just click Play on the audio sample. Genuine central Texas accent thrown in at no extra charge! Y'all take care, now.
