I swan

[Peter Richardson]

An expanded version is heard as well, and probably well beyond northern
Arkansas: "I swanee to my soul!" and "Well, I do swan!" I'd guess it's a
euphemism for "swear," which of course no proper person would want to
admit doing.

Peter Richardson

On Sun, 27 Oct 2002, Barnhart wrote:

> This, of course, will not be found yet in DARE.  But, Wentworth treated
> it in his American Dialect Dictionary.  He has cites from
>
> Michigan
> Connecticut
> Wisconsin
> Kansas
> Indiana
> Illinois
> Iowa
> (central, northern, and s.w.) New York
> Nebraska
> Arkansas
> New Hampshire
> Alabama
> New England
> Maine
> West Virginia
> Missouri
> Texas.
>
> Regards,
> David K. Barnhart, Editor
> The Barnhart Dictionary Companion [quarterly]
> barnhart at highlands.com
> www.highlands.com/Lexik
>
> "Necessity obliges us to neologize."
> Thomas Jefferson-August 16, 1813
>