polecat

From Middle English polcat, pulkat, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle English *pole, *poule (“hen”), from Old French poule (“hen”) + Middle English cat. Compare English foulmart.


chub

en-verb

chub (third-person singular simple present chubs, present participle chubbing, simple past and past participle chubbed)

chubs (present singular third-person)
chubbing (participle present)
chubbed (participle past)
chubbed (past)

The Texas House, where, with the 140-day legislative session nearing an end, the Democratic minority "chubbed" a voter ID bill, and coincidentally more, to death.

2009 May 30, James C[ourtright] McKinley Jr., “The Talk, and the Talk, and the Talk, of Austin”, in The New York Times (Image caption section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-26:

Did You Know? in 2009, House Democrats chubbed to death a bill to require voters to present valid ID at the polls because they feared that it would keep low-income and elderly citizens from voting.

2014, William Earl Maxwell, Texas Politics Today, Boston, M.A.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, published 2013–2014, →ISBN, page 207:

In the House, as the session approached its end, Democrats "chubbed" the bill to death (a tactic similar to filibustering) – and, in the process, killed many other bills that were waiting in line behind it.

2011 January 14, Richard Whittaker, Wells Dunbar, Lee Nichols, Jordan Smith, “This Way to the Big Top!”, in The Austin Chronicle, Austin, T.X.: Austin Chronicle Corp., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-17:

(US, Texas politics) To stop a bill from being passed using procedural delays.


esplanade

1590s, from French esplanade (“clear, level space”), from Spanish esplanada (explanada), form of esplanar (“to flatten, to make level”), from Latin explānāre, from which English explain; see also plain (“level area, to flatten”), and Italian spianata, from spianare.

(Texas) Grassy strips between two divided highway lanes; a traffic island.


settee

Unclear, possibly from settle (“seat, long bench”) + -ee (diminutive suffix).

suf

The lounge was furnished in old English oak and big Knole settees. There were rugs from Tabriz and Kerman on the highly polished floor. […] A table lamp was fashioned from a silver Egyptian hookah.

1954, Alexander Alderson, chapter 18, in The Subtle Minotaur:

“You might have to calm this down, my darling. I'm not sure this settee can take it.” “This settee has taken centuries of our love.”

2022 July 12, Stefani Robinson & Paul Simms, “Reunited” (9:01 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 4, episode 1:

(UK, Texas) A long seat with a back, made to accommodate several persons at once; a sofa.


howdy

Sranan Tongo: odi

Shortened form of "how d'ye (do)" (i.e. how do you do).

Howdy folks, and welcome to our ninth annual chili cookoff!

(chiefly Texas, informal) An informal greeting.


mott

Probably ultimately from French motte; compare motte.

They were rolling southward on the International. The timber was huddling into little dense, green motts at rare distances before the inundation of the downright, vert prairies. This was the land of the ranches; the domain of the kings of the kine.

1903 February, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Hygeia at the Solito”, in Everybody’s Magazine, volume VIII, number 2, New York, N.Y.: John Wanamaker, →ISSN, page 173, column 2:

We continued northwest, the grass tall with scattered thick motts of oak and the mesquites with their flickering leaves and the yuccas in bloom with their white flowers.

2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 39:

(Texas) A copse or small grove of trees, especially live oak or elm.


mum

(US, originally Texas) A decoration made originally of a real chrysanthemum but now usually an artificial (silk) flower combined with ribbons and marked with such indicators as the wearer's name, school name, the year, and so on; traditionally worn by girls at high school homecoming celebrations.


cluck

From Middle English clokken, clocken, from Old English cloccian (“to cluck, make a noise”), from Proto-West Germanic *klukkwōn, from Proto-Germanic *klukkwōną (“to make a sound, cluck”), of imitative origin.
Cognate with Scots clok, clock (“to cluck”), Dutch klokken (“to cluck”), Low German klucken (“to cluck”), German glucken (“to cluck”), Danish klukke (“to cluck”), Swedish klucka (“to cluck”), Icelandic klökkva (“to sob, whine, cluck”).


banquette

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-banquette.wav

Borrowed from French banquette, the diminutive form of banc; by surface analysis, bank + -ette.

The boys were dragging along the banquette a small “express wagon,” which they had filled with blocks and sticks.

“Get the hell away from that stove, Charmaine, and go play out on the banquette before I bust you right in the mouth.”

1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN:


IH

(Texas) Initialism of interstate highway.


frijol

Phaseolus vulgaris
Phaseolus vulgaris#Translingual

Any cultivated bean of the genus Phaseolus, especially the black seed of a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris.


reata

The riders overtook them laughing and circled the cart at a full gallop until one of them took down his reata and dropped a loop over the mule’s head and brought it to a halt.


llano

Borrowed from Spanish llano. Doublet of piano, plain, and plane.

“For this,” said El Espinero, with an economical slide of his hand indicating all the visible circumference of the cruel llano.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 442:

(Texas) A plain or steppe in parts of Latin America.


resaca

From Spanish resaca, probably from resacar (“retake”), though possibly from rio seco (“dry river”) instead.


pilon

(Texas) A gratuity given by tradesmen to customers settling their accounts.


hot check

From sense hot (“illegal, stolen”) – compare hot property (“stolen goods”).

And you don’t go writing hot checks down in Mississippi,

1978, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, “There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang”, in I Would Like to See You Again, Columbia Records:

(US, Texas) A check with non-sufficient funds (not enough money in the bank to back it up), written fraudulently.

bad check

check with insufficient funds, written fraudulently


woodhouse

The ceiling is covered with paintings of scriptural subjects, which still remain, notwithstanding that the building is now desecrated, and used as a woodhouse by the neighboring farmer.

1820, Dawson Turner, Account of a Tour in Normandy, Vol. I. (of 2):

I felt awfully poor, and a stranger, and this was a beginning for me at any rate, so I went to work with a will and never lost a minute of daylight till I had split up all the wood and filled his woodhouse completely up.

1894, William Lewis Manly, Death Valley in '49:

Now this door, which had been left ajar by Polly when she ran off, opened into a little courtyard where the fowls were shut in at night; the woodhouse and the privy also stood there.

(Texas) A house or shed for storing (chopped) wood


savanilla

(US, dialect, chiefly Texas, dated) A fish (Atlantic tarpon, Megalops atlanticus).


smearcase

Borrowed from Pennsylvania German Schmierkaes.

GERMAN CLUB SANDWICH: Thin slices of pumpernickel, rye, and white bread are used for this sandwich. Rub half a pound of smearcase until smooth, add three tablespoonfuls of thick cream and two of melted butter; season with pepper and salt. Spread some of this cheese mixture on a buttered slice of pumpernickel bread, followed by a slice of rye covered with cheese, covered with a slice of buttered white bread. Garnish with slice of pickle.

1909, Eva Greene Fuller, The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book: 400 Ways to Make a Sandwich, page 108:

(US, Texas, Pennsylvania, especially Pennsylvania Dutch English) Cottage cheese.


slab line

A single slab line is comprised of cars that share a paint color and originate from the same area of Houston , and they congregate at social events, such as block parties or car shows. Slab lines proceed into an event in a straight line.

2016, Langston Collin Wilkins, “Officially Ridin' Swangas: Slab as tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Houston, Texas”, in Michelle L. Stefano, Peter Davis, editor, The Routledge Companion to Intangible Cultural Heritage, page 211:

(Texas, slang) An informal car club for customized slabs (luxury pre-1980 General Motors vehicles)


whomperjawed

Ealiest known use is from 1942 (see quotations), and it was first mentioned in 1931. Possibly from an alteration of earlier whopperjawed, wopperjawed, wapper-jawed, ultimately related to wapper jaw (“a projecting underjaw”) (1825).

The pending bill as it stands presents another whomper-jawed, lopsided, cross-eyed picture.

1942 September 30, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library, Legislative History, Public Law 729 - 77th Congress, Chapter 578 - 2d Session, H.R. 7565, page 7893, column 3:

Honestly, I felt pretty wolfish that time. I didn’t have a thing to defend myself with but my fist. But I was much of a man, and he was a little gangling, bandy-legged, whomper-jawed, worthless specimen of humanity.

1942, Salomon Alexander Wright, My Rambles as East Texas Cowboy, Hunter, Fisherman, Tie-Cutter, Austin, Texas: Texas Folklore Society, page 92:

(dialectal, Southern US, especially Texas) Askew, amiss; not fitting, moving or working properly.


Texas tea

en-noun

Texas tea (countable and uncountable, plural Texas teas)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Texas tea.wav

It gave Mike time to make me some Texas tea.” Martin looked puzzled. “I thought Texas tea was slang for oil.” “It may be. But to Texans like Mike and me, it merely means well-brewed, properly iced tea.”

2005, JoAnna Carl, The Chocolate Mouse Trap: A Chocoholic Mystery, →ISBN:

Kirby paused for a sip of Texas tea, then went on.

2015, Sarah Ockler, The Summer of Chasing Mermaids, →ISBN, page 166:


cup towel

(US, chiefly Texas and inland Southern US) A dish towel.


Snovid

During Snovid, our entire neighborhood lost water and power, so we had to stay at our cousins' place for a week.

So, she created a t-shirt that says, “Proud member of the Snovid survival club.”

2021 February 26, Kendall Hogan, “Local custom t-shirt store selling shirts to raise money for local charities following winter storm”, in KBTX3, College Station, Texas:

With growth often comes the need for change, and MPR is no exception. Dalton Rice, the brand-new city manager as of February, came into the position right around the time of the Snovid disaster in Texas.

2021 August 3, admin, “Morgan’s Point city council approves ground storage tank for water”, in Belton Journal, Belton, Texas, archived from the original on 2022-02-07:

Last year’s February Snovid event has many Texans making extra preparations before this week’s winter storm.

2022 February 1, News Staff, “Governor Abbott Provides Update On State’s Response To Severe Winter Weather”, in Focus Daily News, DeSoto, Texas:

Phil got it right in 2021. I’m guessing Snovid was more than even he anticipated. The freeze of 2021 is still fresh on a lot of our minds.

2022 February 2, Tricia Potts, “Forget Phil’s frosty forecast, let’s have summer”, in Wharton Journal-Spectator, Wharton, Texas:

(informal, Texas, neologism) The February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.


chubbing

Unknown. Attested as early as the 1950s.

The representative engaged in chubbing may or may not be in favor of the current bill but is trying to block consideration of the next bill on the Texas House calendar.

2013, Ken Collier, Steven Galatas, Julie Harrelson-Stephens, Lone Star Politics, 3rd Edition, page 129:

(US politics, Texas) The deliberate use of discussion and debate to delay legislative proceedings.


hot bean

From hot + bean, from the bean's steep increase in temperature after being rubbed on a hard surface. Children sometimes use this property in pranks.


moon-bill

(US, dialect, Texas) The ring-necked duck.


LSSP

(professional title, Texas) Initialism of licensed specialist in school psychology.