Name: Stormy Valley Forge Pa I Love MAM ~ So Happy Together
I thought that this word or phrase deserved it's own thread because it is the first word that I learned here at Cubits. Quite possibly it deserves the creation of another Forum because it turns out that it is a regional phrase. Further qualifying it for that distinction is that the search for it's meaning revealed a bonus equivalent regional phrase.
"I swanny" is a southern US phrase. In New England there is a comparable phrase, "I vum".
"I swanny" is similar to using that other well used southern phrase, "I do declare"
They are both used to express amazement or certainty.
"I Swanny" has it's derivation in Old English, "I shall warrant you", pronounced "I s'wan ye".
"I vum" is a New England term that is also used to express amazement or certainty.
"vum" is an alteration of the old english verb "vow".
Here is the background on "I swanny" and the home page of this fun & useful language site, The Word-Detective.
Name: Annie Western WA Zone USDA 7b Relax. It's only a small setback.
I am going to have to bookmark Word detective for winter reading. Fabulous! Thanks for the link.
I do take exception to picking on mourning doves, whose calls I closely associate with lazy summer mornings growing up, but in no way are they stupid. I don't think.
From Word Detective: Gee, I miss pigeons. I was a big fan of pigeons when I lived in New York City, but out here in the country the closest things we have are mourning doves, birds so stupid they make pigeons seem like shoo-ins for Mensa.
Name: Stormy Valley Forge Pa I Love MAM ~ So Happy Together
We were talking in my cubit about how as children, our Halloween costumes were often "Hand me Downs".
It suddenly struck me what a strange phrase "Hand me downs" really is. It made me wonder about it's origin. I looked in the Word Detective, but there is no entry for it. I'm wondering if the use of the "me" implies an Irish derivation. Of course, it could just be an American expression.
Name: Annie Western WA Zone USDA 7b Relax. It's only a small setback.
I've been Kelli's version of I Swanny for 3 days now and will welcome a chill back down to the 70's again.
"Hand me downs," is familiar. It makes sense a larger being would hand someone smaller down an article of smaller, usable clothing. I have "hand me up" garden tshirts from my DD! As in, "You're not going to throw that away are you?
"I vum" is a complete mystery to me: either Midwestly or West Coastie. I have used "I've um" as in "I've um.... backed the car into a post, honey."
Name: Kelli California, USDA 10, Sunset 19 Where summer is winter
"I swanny" also reminds me of what they say in old westerns, "I savvy" or "You savvy", as in know or understand. ("You better stay off my land or next time I recon you won't get off so easy. You savvy?") I'd bet money that "savvy" in this case comes from the Spanish.
I vum. Sounds like a car revving up and speeding away.... va-va-vum-vroom. How do you use it stormyla? I'm going to throw 'vum' around a bit. .... "I vum not to blow anything up today"... "I vum to that".... "O VUM!"....
Name: Stormy Valley Forge Pa I Love MAM ~ So Happy Together
There Dahlia, you've surely put the vum to good use. I vum that I never heard of it before the other day. It did say that commonly the I isn't even included. Simply a "Vum" completes the sentence all by it's lonesome. Vum must be one of the powerful words.
The spell check guy is not making nice with the vum.
As in, "You're not going to throw that away are you?
