inquiry

[Lesa Dill]

The contraction explanation sounds correct.  I, being a Tennessee
country sort who grew up in Western Tennessee with a group of story-
telling oldtimers, thought perhaps it was an example of the common
process of collapsing two word similar in sound both of which would
work in the context and make sense.  In this case--"need" and "mean."
No proof--just a speculation.
On Mon, 19 Aug 2002 19:23:22 -0400
 lynn short <lynn5299 at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
> I have long wondered about the origin of a word that is routinely
used in
> Eastern Kentucky and other parts of Appalachia. The word is nean or
neen, I
> am not sure of the spelling, but it rhymes with mean. An example of
the
> usage is "Lynn, you nean to think you can get away with that. Does
anyone
> have any ideas about the origin of this word?
>
>
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