# What's going on with guys who sound like "Boomhauer" (character from King of the Hill show)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [June 30, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277 "2025-06-30T00:27:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/21 "2025-06-30T12:50:34Z")
As noted in the Wiki page, Boomhauer is from the same town (the fictional Arlen, TX - most closely based on Killeen although the Dallas suburbs or any medium sized city on the I35 corridor between San Antonio and Dallas would probably work) as Hank, Bill, and Dale. None of them speak that way, so it clearly isn’t just a regional accent. Or if it is, it’s obviously not a central / north Texas accent. FWIW there was one episode where he visits his grandmother, who he refers to as “meemaw”, and who speaks the same way. Maybe even though Boomhauer himself doesn’t have a speech impediment, perhaps a grandparent / great grandparent did, and that way of talking just got passed down in the family. ETA: Looking it up, “meemaw” seems to be especially common among Cajuns. Perhaps Boomhaur’s family was originally from the Cajun areas of Louisiana before they moved to Arlen. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/22 "2025-06-30T14:00:59Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > ETA: Looking it up, “meemaw” seems to be especially common among Cajuns. Perhaps Boomhaur’s family was originally from the Cajun areas of Louisiana before they moved to Arlen. Nope. Because Bill is a Cajun from Louisiana. There’s a whole episode about it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/69lHxl2HUfA/hqdefault.jpg "Bill Dauterive speaks fluent Cajun") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69lHxl2HUfA) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/23 "2025-06-30T14:02:46Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I read once that Mike Judge based the voice/accent on a message left on an answering machine, in a complaint about a show (maybe Beavis and Butthead?) Correct [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hv5ToEEimTE/hqdefault.jpg "Mike Judge explains the origins of Boomhauer`s voice") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv5ToEEimTE) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/24 "2025-06-30T14:32:44Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > Could their brains be fried from substance abuse? My brother, the pain in the ass, has a speech pattern very close to Boomhauer’s. The family suspects too much substance abuse while attending the University of Illinois and the fact that he’s lived in Texas for the past three decades or so could be a contributing factor. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/25 "2025-06-30T14:46:19Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Totally a made up speech style. I worked with a guy a couple of decades ago, who honeymooned in Acapulco. [NB: We’re both Californians.] In addition to an intoxicated woman from Nebraska or someplace, which he mimicked, he met a guy who totally talked like Boomhauer. (And he could mimic that pretty well.) > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Womens southern speak might come out as more refined. In the '90s I was watching a documentary on the Civil War wherein was interviewed a ‘refined Southern woman’. I don’t remember if she was from Charlotte, or Atlanta. The thing that sticks in my mind is they way she pronounced ‘War’. She said, ‘WO-wah’. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/26 "2025-06-30T15:22:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > In the '90s I was watching a documentary on the Civil War wherein was interviewed a ‘refined Southern woman’. I don’t remember if she was from Charlotte, or Atlanta. The thing that sticks in my mind is they way she pronounced ‘War’. She said, ‘WO-wah’. That’s the Ken Burns one. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/27 "2025-06-30T15:23:35Z")
Single syllable words are often drawn out to multiple syllables. Hear it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/28 "2025-06-30T15:27:25Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Single syllable words are often drawn out to multiple syllables. It wouldn’t have sounded quite so strange if she’d said ‘WO-uh’. It was the ‘WO- **w** ah’ that was ‘unique’. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/29 "2025-06-30T15:28:51Z")
I think it’s mostly the accent. What gets me is local northerners speaking incomprehensibly. I guess is mostly due to speaking softly and mumbling. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/30 "2025-06-30T16:05:03Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > speaking softly and mumbling. The first sign of hearing loss is the increasing perception everyone around you is doing just what you say. FYI, just sayin’. But trying not to mumble about it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/31 "2025-06-30T16:09:20Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > It would’ve worked with a rural cockney accent, I bet. There were people I couldn’t understand in London. And I grew up watching a lot of British TV on PBS. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/32 "2025-06-30T16:39:31Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > It would’ve worked with a rural cockney accent, I bet. Ah, but Cockney is very much a city accent, localized on the East End of London. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/33 "2025-06-30T16:42:28Z")
Maybe I’m thinking more of the way the Yorkshire Dales people speak. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/34 "2025-06-30T20:58:26Z")
Boomhauer Trivia: In the final episode it is revealed he is a Texas Ranger. But he is _never_ show in uniform or any other clue about that. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/35 "2025-07-03T19:03:34Z")
The Boomhauer way of speaking reminds me of Gerald as seen on the semi-documentary Clarkson’s Farm: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLj\_GARcO20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLj_GARcO20) ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/36 "2025-07-03T19:06:41Z")
I just ran across a clip of Hank, Dale, and Bill speaking in “Boomhauerese” while Boomhauer speaks normally. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdyGfiIirD8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdyGfiIirD8) ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/37 "2025-07-03T20:04:02Z")
I’ve never met someone who has all of Boomhauer’s speech characteristics, but I’ve talked with plenty who have most of them. There’s a couple things at play above and beyond the simple accent. The unfiltered stream-of-consciousness is one thing, which leads to some of the scatterbrained incoherence. Then you pair that with verbal tics like “man” or “dang it” and you have another layer. The one that really gets me is the thoughts that only expressed about 80% of the way before just stopping or moving on to the next thing with an awkward mumbling transition. It’s all very ADHD. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/38 "2025-07-03T21:41:44Z")
I wonder if it was on purpose that Boomhauer looks a little like Mumbles from Dick Tracy. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/39 "2025-07-04T16:11:31Z")
IIRC, and I might not, it’s at least implied in the show that he was wounded in the line of duty and is living off his pension. Also, while Boomhauer is not a substance abuser, it’s possible that Mike Judge got his accent from one. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277/40 "2025-07-04T16:26:15Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I just ran across a clip of Hank, Dale, and Bill speaking in “Boomhauerese” while Boomhauer speaks normally. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdyGfiIirD8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdyGfiIirD8) I was fed that clip as a Facebook Reel last night. It is from this Rashomon-style episode: > **[A Fire Fighting We Will Go](https://kingofthehill.fandom.com/wiki/A_Fire_Fighting_We_Will_Go)** > > "A Fire Fighting We Will Go" is the 45th episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on January 12, 1999. The episode was written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland, and directed by Cyndi Tang-Loveland. In this Rashomon-meets-The Three... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-guys-who-sound-like-boomhauer-character-from-king-of-the-hill-show/1020277.md?page=1)