Dubba G’s Guide on How To Speak Fluent ‘El Pasoan’

Around the Borderland, things don't always mean what you think they do.

Here are a few examples of Borderland-ese.

Way. It doesn't establish direction, as in "Which way is the store"? It's actually spelled guey and can be used in a number of "ways".Examples:

• Greeting: "Hey guey", among friends, is similar to "Hey Bro!"
• Insult: "That guey scratched my car."  = "That jackass scratched my car"
• Unknown person: "Ask that guey in the blue shirt to come over here".
• Dual meanings:  "Show me the way" means, "guide me". "Show me the guey" means, "point out the guy". (This one can be directed at an unknown person or one who's being a jackass, depending on the circumstances.)

Ju. Not a shortened reference to a member of the Jewish faith, this means "you" as in "Ju look very nice today."

Shoe. Not footwear, this one also means "you". Example, "Are shoe coming"?

She's. This is not a contraction for "She is", it's what you put on your enchiladas.

Essay. Not a document, an abbreviation for San Antonio. Ex: "We're going to SA."

No Nintendo. This doesn't mean you have no game system, it means you don't understand. (A Border-ized version of no entiendo".)

Ease. Around here, this doesn't mean "little effort", it's used to establish a location. As in "Where ease my car?

Keys. In Chuco, they don't open things. They're a huge rock band.

Pans. We don't cook in them, we wear them. As in "I tore my pans."

Shursh. If it's Sunday and someone asks you "Where ease the shursh?", they're either drunk or from El Paso.  (Wait, that's kinda redundant ...)

Of course, we also speak a lot of Texan around here. For example:

• All. Not a total, it goes in your engine. "That's all." vs. "I need an all change."
• Yawl. We don't use these small boats around here much but, we do call groups of people this way. As in "Ya'll come inside".
• 'Cuz. We use this one 'cuz the word because has way too many letters in it.

Got any more??