In Texas, it ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.
Old Texas Saying
Tex-a-hol-ic \ 'tek-ā-hȯl-ik \ n [syn Tex-centric (M. Ivins)] a: a terminal affliction with Texaholism b: a person 1836 percent addicted to all things Texas—to bluebonnets, piney woods, coastal plains, desert mountains, Panhandle farmland, and hill country sunsets; to longhorns, mockingbirds, Blue Lacies, armadillos, Mexican free-tailed bats, and horned frogs; to Dr Pepper, Shiner and Lone Star beer, sweet tea, chili (without beans), BBQ, tacos, Tex-Mex, jalapeños, chicken fried steak, Whataburger, pecan pie, and Blue Bell ice cream; to cowboy boots, spurs, chaps, cowboy hats, pearl snap shirts, and blue jeans; to red dirt music, Waylon, Willie, and King George, honky-tonks, and two stepping; to pickup trucks, country roads, rodeoing; and floating the Frio and Guadalupe; to rooting for high school football on Friday nights and college football on Saturday afternoons; to Caddos, Comanches, and Kiowa; to the old 300, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, James Bowie, William B. Travis, David Crockett, James Butler Bonham, James Fannin, Juan Seguín, José Antonio Navarro, and all the sons and daughters who went before; to March 2, 6, 27 and April 21; to the Republic; to “Come and Take It,” “Remember the Alamo,” “Remember Goliad,” “Don’t Mess with Texas,” and “Texas Forever;” to the hidy sign, “Howdy,” “Y’all,” “Bless Your Heart,” an East Texas twang and a West Texas drawl; to the Alamo, the San Jacinto Monument, the Battle Ship Texas, Big Tex, the Yellow Rose, and the Lone Star Flag; to “Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible;” to moseying, swagger, and valor; to God Bless Texas!
Tex-an \ 'tek-sǝn \ n [var of Texian (Anglo) and Tejano (Mexican): citizens of Coahuila y Tejas and later the Republic of Texas] a: one native born in the greatest state in the Union b: one who has Hecho En Tejas tattooed on his or her heart c: one who desires to be buried in God’s country d: one who exhibits Texcellence e: “a Texan first, an American second” (M. Rash) f: “beef heads” (E.C. Brewer) g: “a large-sized Jabberwock, a hairy kind of gorilla . . . half alligator, half human, who eats raw buffalo, and sleeps out on the prairie” (A. Sweet) h: “rather be a fencepost in Texas than king of Tennessee” (C. Wall) i: “a child of the Alamo and the Yellow Rose” (G. Strait)
Tex-pa-tri-ate \ 'tek-'spā-tré-āt \ n [fr. L tex- + ex- + patria Texas the native country syn expatriate] a: a Texan who has the great misfortune of living outside of Texas b: a displaced Texan whose greatest wish and deepest longing is to return home to Texas c: a Texan who’s motto is: “If found, return to Texas”
Tex-as \ 'tek-sǝs \ n [Spanish Tejas fr. Caddo Indian táysaha (“friends” or “allies”) syn Long Star State] a: the Republic (1836-1845) b: “en empire, an entity, totally its own” (J. Gunter) c: the 28th state in the Union (1845) d: the largest cabin or captain’s cabin on a steamboat e: the name of Theodore Roosevelt’s horse (“Little Texas”) f: “a state of mind . . . an obsession . . . a mystique” (J. Steinbeck) i: the promise land g: “the land of milk and honey; the land of giants” (J. Felt) h: “the garden spot of the world” (D. Crockett) i: “the girls . . . are just a little bit sweeter” (P. Green) j: “having drunk Red River water it is not possible to go back” (H.H. McConnell) k: big, bodacious, and best l: big enough “to wear Rhode Island as a watch fob” (P. Neff) m: “valor and swagger” (C. Sandburg) n: “neither southern nor western; Texas is Texas” (W. Blakely) o: where “a man can be a man and not a dog” (T.F. Buck) p: where a man’s “soul can [run] free among its vast prairies” (O. Henry) q: where you can “dream big dreams and think big thoughts, because there is nothing to hem [you] in” (C. Hilton) r: where “the stars are big and bright” s: “God and Texas—Victory or Death!” (W.B. Travis)