Moneypenny research reveals Texas language is evolving: “soda” now beats “Coke,” while “y’all” and “fixin’ to” remain firm favorites.
DALLAS, TX, UNITED STATES, August 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — New research from Moneypenny reveals that many of the familiar ideas associated with “talkin’ Texan” are shifting as the state’s population changes and increasing numbers of people make Texas their home.
The world’s customer conversation experts surveyed 1001 people across Texas and were most surprised by the most popular term for a carbonated drink. While “Coke” was once the ubiquitous Texan answer, it came second to “soda” in Moneypenny’s 2026 research.
Overall, 56% of survey respondents said they say “soda,” while 26% say “Coke” regardless of the brand, with “soda pop” coming in at 8%, and “pop” at 6%. Older generations were more likely to say “Coke” regardless of the brand, with 31% of 35-44s and 34% of 55-64s using it generally, compared with 17% of 18-24s and 16% of 25-34s. Among the various areas of Texas, San Antonians were the most likely to say “soda” (64%), followed by Houston (59%), DFW (53%), and El Paso (50%).
“We launched this research after seeing how the World Cup shed a light on all of the unique cultural differences across the US, especially Texas, which had two host cities in Houston and Dallas,” said Eric Schurke, CEO North America at Moneypenny. “As a business that answers the phone for thousands of businesses across the globe, including many across the great Lone Star State, we know the words people use and how they expect to be spoken to matter. We understand that whether a conversation is handled by one of our brilliant people or through our AI Receptionist, it needs to feel natural, helpful and appropriate to the customer. This research gave us a fascinating look into how the language of Texas is evolving.”
Among the most popular words Moneypenny asked about from the typical “Texicon” was the infamous “y’all” pronoun for talking to a group of people. From across the state, “y’all” was used by 59% of respondents, followed by 16% who said “you guys”, 11% saying “all of you”, and 9% saying “you all”. Women are more likely than men to say “y’all” (63% versus 56%), and Gen Z is by far the most likely at 71% versus 64% of 25-34s, 53% of 35-44s, and 52% of over 65s.
Regionally, while a solid 57% of people in Houston, DFW and 56% of those in San Antonio say “y’all”, a much higher 69% in Austin invoke it. Way out West, only 38% in El Paso use it, which also had solid returns on “you guys” and “all of you”, both at 24%. Culturally, this could be due to the city’s close proximity to both New Mexico and Mexico influencing its version of “Texan”.
Further to these broader influences on language in the state, 30% of respondents statewide claimed to know a few words or phrases in Spanish, while 41% reported higher levels of fluency or comprehension. El Paso, had the largest amount of people who can speak and understand Spanish either fluently or fairly well (72%), compared with only 16% in DFW, 26% in Houston, and 20% in Austin.
As for other typically Texan phrases, “fixin’ to” was the most popular statewide and used by 61% of respondents, followed by “reckon” at 34%, “over yonder” at 31%, “pitch a fit” at 30%, and “might could” at 25%. Women were more likely than men to say “fixin’ to” (63% versus 58%) and “pitch a fit” (32% versus 27%), while men were more likely to say “reckon” (36% vs 33%) and “might could” (27% versus 22%).
Older generations used “fixin’ to” the most, with more than two-thirds of those 45-54, 55-64, and over 65 admitting to using the phrase, compared to just over half (58%) of 25-34s, and less than half (44%) of 18-24s. Similarly, “over yonder” was more popular with older Texans for 44% of over 65s and 37% of 55-64s compared with only 17% of 18-24s.
“One of the things we didn’t expect was to see the phrase ‘might could’ be more popular with younger people – a third of 18-24s versus only 11% of 45-54s,” added Schurke. “We assumed many of these expressions were holdovers from the old Texas guard, but we ‘reckon’ bits of that globally famous Texas culture ‘might could’ be having a renaissance.”
MJ Greenhalgh
Moneypenny
+1 786-672-2051
email us here
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