Hello,
I am wondering if you could help with a puzzling question. I have googled and am at a loss where to turn for an answer. Would you please, if you know, tell me what the "old saying: I'll be Suwanneed" means. My mother has used it all my life and we do not know the origin or meaning. I live in Canada and have no resources at my library to help in my search.
I am thanking you in advance for your help.
Warmest Regards,
(transplanted Barnesvillian)
Marcy Mepsted
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4 comments:
There is a very old southern saying of "I'll be swanned". Maybe you mis-heard it in translation.
"I'll be swanned" translation is shock. "Well i'll be swanned, that horse ain't as slow as i thought". Kinda like "I declare". From what I can gather is comes from the old story of the ugly duckling turning into a swan thus shocking everyone.
Hope that helps.
from a reader....
INTERJECTION:
New England Used to express surprise.
ETYMOLOGY:
Alteration of vow2.
REGIONAL NOTE:
New Englanders sometimes express surprise by saying, “Well, I vum!” This odd-sounding word is in fact an alteration of the verb vow that goes back to the days of the American Revolution. It is also heard simply as “Vum!” or as a sort of past participle: “I'll be vummed!” A Southern equivalent is swan or swanny, also meaning “swear”: “Now, I swanny!” According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word swanny derives from the dialect of the north of England: I s' wan ye, “I shall warrant ye.”
This is what we should expect from this blog from now on. Who gives a rat's ass!
Rev.MJB
My Grandmother used to say, "well I swan".
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