June 07, 2013, 20:50
KallehRegionalisms
Shu came across the word
vum in a poem, which evidently is a regionalism from New England that is used to express surprise, as in, "Well I vum!" or "I'll be vummed!" Have you heard it?
The site above then mentioned another regionalism from the south being
swan or
swanny to mean "swear." That is used as "Now I swanny..."
I hadn't heard of any of these, have you? Do you have some others?
June 07, 2013, 21:27
BobHaleNever heard either of them.
June 08, 2013, 06:37
<Proofreader>I've been here in NE for some time and have never heard that term.
I have heard the southern expression as
swarn, with more of an "r" than if it was "swan".
June 08, 2013, 08:14
goofyIt's an alteration of
vow according to the OED.
swan is "probably northern English dialect
I s' wan lit. ‘I shall warrant’ = I'll be bound; later taken as a mincing substitute for swear v."
June 08, 2013, 21:06
KallehEach of these poems has the word
vum:
Wonderful One-Hoss Shay and
Darius Greene and His Flying Machine