# Do Texans (and other gulf-coasters) really say Pure-Dee? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 7, 2005, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427 "2005-07-07T06:26:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/21 "2005-07-08T03:41:31Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > In a book by Larry McMurtry and maybe a book called something like _Topsy Dingo Wild Dog,_ people used “pure-dee” as an adverb. For example, “If you think that, you’re a pure-dee fool,” or “…make your life a pure-dee Hell.” > > Is that a real-life usage? I may have used it once or twice, and I’ll be embarrassed if it’s only fiction. :smack: THAT’s exactly how they pronounce it… it’s true… i hear it to this very day… as well as the infamous, “hey y’all!” ohhhh Lordy! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/22 "2005-07-08T04:01:01Z")
Say it! Hell, I’ve posted it! Shameless recovering Texan. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/23 "2005-07-08T04:28:53Z")
In Christopher Paul Curtis’ book _The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963_, a thirteen year old character says to his little brother, “That was pure D welfare food.” Author grew up in Flint Michigan; the novel takes place there, too. Great young adult book, btw. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/24 "2005-07-08T04:32:22Z")
It should be noted that “pure-D” is almost always used in a negative way. You’ll hear “that’s pure-D bullcrap,” but you aren’t likely to hear “this is pure-D orange juice.” Although it means “genuine” or “bona fide,” it’s generally used to emphasize an entirely bad or undesirable thing. ---
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/25 "2005-07-08T04:40:26Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > It should be noted that “pure-D” is almost always used in a negative way. You’ll hear “that’s pure-D bullcrap,” Well this hasn’t been my experience… every single time I heard it, it was in the context of beauty: “thaa-atz sUHch a PUR-Dee dress yure wear-rin!” “ohhhh she’s soooooo PUR-dee!!!” ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/26 "2005-07-08T11:46:18Z")
Anyone notice that the “region of use” for this phrase seems centered near the Texas panhandle? (At least based on the locations above… NE Okla, Amarillo, Abilene, etc.) For some reason, this stuff fascinates me (regional dialects, I mean). ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/27 "2005-07-08T12:55:03Z")
Ah, but **Pace** , you’re using the word purty, as in pretty, and they’re talking about some bizarre expression, pure-D. Even if it stood for damned, how does that make any more sense? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/28 "2005-07-08T15:28:14Z")
It almost makes sense, “That’s just pure damned nonsense” or “That’s just pure-D nonsense”. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/29 "2005-07-08T16:16:27Z")
Thanks, all. Real people really say it. I learned something here. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/30 "2005-07-08T16:47:02Z")
Looking around the net I found several people who claim it is a mispronounciation of _purdy_. If you substitute _purdy_ for _pure-D_ in any of the phrases people have mentioned, like “pure dee fool” and “pure-D bull” you get nonsense phrases, indicating those people made the connection between _purdy_ for _pure-D_ solely by a similarity in the spelling. The technical, etymological name for this is “pulling it out of your ass.” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/31 "2005-07-08T17:08:41Z")
The OED identifies “D” or “dee” as a euphemism for “damn(ed)” and dates it to the late 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/32 "2005-07-08T18:35:11Z")
Well lah-dee-effing-dah, Mr “I don’t have to go to the library because I have my own copy of the _OED_!” 😉 That could be read as “Thanks, it was nice to be validated,” spoken in Male-Bonding Trashtalk, but I think you knew that. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleRose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b2d939/32.png) [@PurpleRose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleRose)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/33 "2016-09-27T07:45:03Z")
Ive heard this said since I was a child (living in New Orleans). I never knew what the d stood for. My boyfriend asked and your post was the only place I found where people were using it correctly. Folks are right here too…It typically has a negative connotation, but I have heard it paired with words like fun (when the fun wasn’t exactly wholesome.) Thanks for posting! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/34 "2016-09-27T15:03:53Z")
> [@Audrey\_Levins](#): > > As a fifth-generation Texan (and a girl raised on the Gulf Coast, in Corpus Christi) I can honestly say I have never heard of the word “Pure-Dee.” I don’t honestly even know what it means. Is it a version of “pretty?” Is it…what is it? > > I have also never read any Larry McMurtry. Perhaps that is my problem. > > But if he’s been to Texas, particularly the southern Gulf region, he was high on something if that’s what he heard. Even my West and East Texas relatives (where the accents actually do live up to the stereotypes) have never, to my knowledge, said such a thing. > > I suggest he do his research. I know this is a zombie thread, and you may not even still be a board member, but I want to point out that McMurtry was born and raised in Archer City, Texas, spent some of his formative years living on his grandfather’s ranch, is deeply steeped in the history and culture, and at one time was a rare book dealer in both Houston and Archer City. I would suggest that his research is very thorough. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/35 "2016-09-27T16:56:06Z")
To me, I associate it with Appalachia. And then only thru TV/movies so no doubt unlikely even in the hollers. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427/36 "2016-09-27T23:08:27Z")
I’m sure I’ve heard the phrase “pure dee wrong” in a song lyric (or a spoken section in a song), but I can’t remember which song for the life of me. I thought it was Ray Stevens, but Google isn’t helping me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-texans-and-other-gulf-coasters-really-say-pure-dee/311427.md?page=1)