LOCAL PECULIARITIES
Slang and Mispronunciations:
- Stie-ga: Stygia
- Coke: It doesn't matter if you're actually drinking a Sprite, RC, or a Pepsi, it's a Coke. Calling it a "pop" will get your ass beat. The one possible exception is Dr. Pepper.
- D-E-D: As in, "He's D-E-D, dead."
- Fixin': About to. As in, "I'm fixin' to fill you full of holes."
- Figure: To think. As in, "I figure we should head on over to the bar before Five."
- Y'all: "You all" as in the second person plural. Imagine you're addressing a room full of your friends; that's the correct usage.
Local Traditions and Festivities
- Rodeo Day: This is a surprisingly big deal in San Angelo. There's a parade, the schools close, even the university shuts down. The parade, which often has several marching bands, horseback riders, classic cars/trucks/tractors, and over 50 floats, is broadcast on local TV. Of course, then there's the rodeo, which begins that evening.
- New Years Day: People eat Black Eyed Peas on New Years Day for good luck. I don't understand it either.
- Fiesta Del Concho: Held along the Concho River, Fiesta Del Concho is essentially a time for local artisan to show and peddle their wears.
- Polo in the Park: Held by the Son Risas Foundation as a fund raiser for their work with disabled children, Polo in the park is an actual polo tournament held at Fort Concho. A few years ago, Tommy Lee Jones actually played in the tournament.
- Lights on the Concho: The Concho River is surrounded by millions of Christmas lights, a small fee is charged, and you can drive along the riverside and look at them.
- Christmas at Old Fort Concho: Like Fiesta del Concho, only at Christmas, and at Fort Concho. It is often set up to look like an Old West trading post. If you've ever been to a Renaissance Faire, imagine that with an Old West theme and in the middle of winter. Before you ask, yes, people dress up like cowboys, soldiers, and even Native Americans. They set up historically accurate tents, too.
- Balloon Race: Until a few years ago, San Angelo was home to an annual balloon race, supposedly the largest in the state.
Non-San Angelo Traditions
- Rattlesnake Roundup, Sweetwater: Every year, just like St. Patrick, some red necks decide to flush the rattlesnakes out of West Texas. Hundreds of Thousands of snakes are rounded up and brought to the festival where they are used in shows, made into useful household items and garments, and deep fried to perfection. It may sound cliché, but they really do taste like chicken. Supposedly at the end, whatever snakes are left are released back into the wild, but in the beginning they were all killed as pests. This makes Sweetwater a frightening place for the local dead.
- Toenail Trail Day, Christoval: Toenail Trail was a small trade route between Fort Concho and Fort McKavet (near Menard). Every year Christoval has its' own parade, but it is not nearly as big an event as Rodeo Day.
