Seriously. The Oklahoma Panhandle I get, because a map of the state looks like a saucepan. But I’m not seeing anything on the silhouette of Texas that resembles the handle of a pan.
So, what part of Texas is supposed to be the Panhandle? And do I have to hold my head at a funny angle and squint my eyes to see it? I hope not. I’m never any good at those “Magic Eye” 3-D dealies, and if there’s a trick to finding the Panhandle, I’m probably never going to get it.
The rectangular part at the top that juts up.
Consider my ignorance fought. I always thought it was the western protrusion which makes it look like the state of Texas is aiming a six-shooter towards the Pacific ocean.
The Texas “panhandle” is basically everything west of Oklahoma.
Apparently geographers use the term panhandle rather loosely. If one corner juts out significantly, it’s a panhandle.* The proximity to the Oklahoma panhandle may have had something to do with it.
Florida has a panhandle too, although we’d be perfectly happy to give it all to Alabama.
Except South Padre Island, maybe.
I did, too.
You ain’t kiddin’. If it was up to me, it’d be the Texas soufflé cup.
If you look at amap of the Republic of Texas, you can see that the Panhandle looked a bit more pandhandle-ish. Texas was quite a bit bigger than the State of Texas is today.
Since you “get” the Oklahoma Panhandle it should be duck soup to understand that the Texas Panhandle is the part of Texas that compliments the Oklahoma Panhandle! 
I never noticed your location before!
It’s so much unwieldier to call it the “Texas part-under-the-panhandle-of-Oklahoma,” innit?
I wonder if regions adjacent to Florida’s panhandle refer to themselves likewise.
That’s the “Trans-Pecos”.
And somehow, Texas potholder doesn’t cut it either.
Unless he’s dealing in weed.
I’ve always heard the westernmost region of Texas called the Big Bend, and for obvious reasons.
As do West Virginia and Nebraska.
Big Bend is actually just the lowest part of that area. There’s a state and national park there.
Those of us in Texas just call that large chunk of the state “West Texas”.
Maryland, Idaho and Alaska also have panhandles. Missouri and New Mexico have bootheels. West Virginia has two panhandles, northern and eastern. Personally, I’d have called them pseudopods, since the whole state resembles an amoeba.
For some reason, there doesn’t seem to be a special name for the panhandle-like parts of Alabama and Mississippi.
Since when did Texas ever compliment Oklahoma??
I was going to suggest that the Texas panhandle region is so called because it is full of panhandlers, but I may have to drive through the area some day. . . .
The area around Tallahassee (whereabouts the Panhandle merges with the peninsula) is often called the “Big Bend.”
Growing up in Panama City, I sometimes heard people jokingly refer to the Panhandle as “L.A.” (“Lower Alabama”).
The panhandle is the really flat part. It’s also known as America’s ironing board.
