Date:  Mon, 7 Nov 1994 21:26:31 -0600

From:  Natalie Maynor <maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]RA.MSSTATE.EDU>

Subject: Re: 'swan' in TX, ARK



> substitute for 'swear'. First citation is 1832. There's another slang verb,

> also largely attested in 'exclamatory asseveration' (don't you just love

> 'em?), of the form 'swanny', derived by the OED from 'I shall warrant ye'.

> Anybody ever heard that one? Prob'ly not, I swanny. (No relation to the

> "Swanny" River, I don't guess.)



Heard of "I swanny"?? It was even more common than "I swan" in my

Mississippi childhood and beyond. I'm not sure when "I swanny" and "I

swan" started fading away.

  --Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu)