I’ve been out of Texas for around 15 years, but for some reason I was missing it something fierce yesterday. Tell me, my fellow Texans, do drinks still tump over in my home state? And if they do, are you fixing to go clean them up?
The only things that tump over in my parlance are boats, but I’m not a native. (I’m from Louisiana, where boats figure more prominently in general discourse and warrant more jargon.) I can’t say that I’ve heard anyone else apply “tump” to a drink, either, though. I suppose some folks might do so outside of the citified areas.
“Fixing to” is still pretty common in both states, though I don’t use it myself.
Also not a native, but in 2+ years, I’m afraid I have not yet had the pleasure of hearing of anything getting tumped over. Fixin to, however is as common as dirt all the way back to the east coast.
I’ve tumped my share of glasses over in my time. I never even knew that wasn’t a real word until about a year or two ago, when my brother said somebody from out of state was explaining to him too, that it wasn’t. But I still use it; otherwise, my fellow Texans wouldn’t understand what da hell I was saying.
I spent 24 years in Texas and never heard about anything “tumping” that I can recall. “Fixin’ to” do this or that, all the time.
(I’ve been out of Texas much longer than the OP and have never, ever missed it. In fact, when flying past it, I normally moon it from the airplane, doubly embarrassing if I have the aisle seat.)
Maybe it’s regional. I’ve always lived in various towns in south and central Texas. Have not spent any time to speak of in the Panhandle or west or east Texas.
I am not technically from Texas (I grew up practically straddling the Louisiana/Texas border) but my mother is from Fort Worth as is much of her side of the family. I not only know all about tumping, I never gave the term up even after I moved to New England. It is a great word that has no exact English synonym. You can say tip, topple, dump or flip but none of them mean the exact same thing as ‘tump’. Its usage is not only still current, it is spreading slowly geographically thanks to some grass-roots effort by yours truly. I taught it to my Yankee ex-wife and her family also picked it up. My New England daughters use it all the time as well. I nominate it as Southerism that should be adopted by all English speakers around the globe.
My dad was from Oklahoma and I know (and occasionally use) the word ‘tump.’ Grandpa worked in the oilfields starting during the thirties; so a regional, occupational, or generational connection?
I was born in Texas in 1940 and lived there until shortly after JFKs assassination and I don’t recall ever hearing anyone say tump for any reason. Fixin to was common although I broke myself of the habit of using it.
I don’t think I would ever return to Texas although I have been momentarily tempted to. Sanity prevailed in those cases.
I lived in SE Texas, including Houston and small towns, for 15 of the first 20 years of my life. (Yes, I was born a swamp baby!) Early 60s thru mid 80s. I’m in rural SE NM now.
Fixin t’ do something is still part of my daily vocabulary. No one seems to notice.
Until this thread, I had forgotten about tump over. I remember as a little kid, some of my parents friends used words and phrases that seemed like a foreign language to me. Tump over was easily understandable, but sounded funny.
Nice to have escaped, those places can be traps. My drivers ed class took us up on the Interstate but my teacher told us “We have to teach you this but don’t worry you won’t need to use it”. I left two months later.