Re: Of accents & dialects (was: Azurian phonology

Mark Reed wrote:  (re "I swan")
>I assume it's actually "I sworn", just like "I seen", "I gone", etc.
>
I don't think so-- it's definitely present tense (or some kind of
tenseless).
>
>
>On 10/28/08, caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...> wrote:
> > The lady who cleans my rectory was here yesterday and we were
> > chatting.  She used an expression I've heard before but forgotten
> > about: "I swan" instead of "I swear."
> >
> > Does anyone have any thoughts about this expression?  I've only heard
> > it in the South.  Perhaps it's a euphemistic alteration.
> >
I don't think I've ever heard it in real life-- unless maybe my Mills
grandparents (b. in Iowa late 1870s)-- but mostly just in old radio shows,
where it was usually a rural or rustic thing.  My interpretation has always
been that it's an expression of surprise, perhaps synonymous with "Well,
I'll be...[sci. damned]"