Why do hillbillies say "I reckon"? Is that an old English word?

Question

Because I have heard British people say that.

Answer 1

I reckon it is.

Here is a nice article on the Appalacian dailect.
http://www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh30-2.html

Answer 2

Hillbillies and or rednecks have thier own lingo, the say " I reckon" because that is a traditional slang they have been conditioned to use from a small child. It has nothing to do with the old english now, but it was perhaps somethint that was braught over from the british back in the day.

Answer 3

It's not hillbillies only that say that, and it is from the South, and so am I, and proud of it to by the way. We have a lot of phrases others get off by making fun of. But I have no doubt the other states have phrases to, we from the South don't understand, we are just to friendly to make fun of them. By the way, I highly resent the word hillbillies, so many people use it to put down, criticize, and make fun of.

Answer 4

As loon_mallet_wielder indicated, the original meaning of "reckon" is to calculate.

In the 1800's, "I reckon," along with "I calculate," and "I figure," came to be used as slang in America for "I think." ("I guess" also first came to be used around this time, for "I think, but I'm not really sure").

It was always viewed as a kind of an upstart, New World usage, shunned by the British and by upper-class, big-city Anglophile Americans. Accordingly, it came to be associated with backwoods hicks.

In America, it dropped out of fashion, even when it was used to mean "calculate." In Britain, however, since it never really caught on as a slang term, they continued to use "reckon" for "calculate."

Answer 5

Main Entry: reck·on
Pronunciation: 're-k&n
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): reck·oned; reck·on·ing /'re-k&-ni[ng], 'rek-ni[ng]/
Etymology: Middle English rekenen, from Old English -recenian (as in gerecenian to narrate); akin to Old English reccan
transitive verb
1 a : COUNT b : ESTIMATE, COMPUTE c : to determine by reference to a fixed basis
2 : to regard or think of as : CONSIDER
3 chiefly dialect : THINK, SUPPOSE
intransitive verb
1 : to settle accounts
2 : to make a calculation
3 a : JUDGE b chiefly dialect : SUPPOSE, THINK
4 : to accept something as certain : place reliance
- reckon with : to take into consideration
- reckon without : to fail to consider : IGNORE

Answer 6

Main Entry: re·con·nais·sance
Pronunciation: ri-'kä-n&-z&n(t)s, -s&n(t)s
Function: noun
Etymology: French, literally, recognition, from Middle French reconoissance, from Old French reconoistre to recognize
: a preliminary survey to gain information; especially : an exploratory military survey of enemy territory

I'm just speculating, but I reckon it is a bastardized usage of recon.

Answer 7

I say it guess cause I am from Texas, but I am by far, no means, a hillbilly, not old English, just slang.

Answer 8

yes, It comes form the settlers. Where I live many people, especially the "old folks", speak as close to the way the original settlers spoke when they first came to America... or at least that is how it was 11 years ago. Many outsiders are starting to move here and are bringing other accents and phrases with them so every part of our speak and culture is changing.

Answer 9

I think it's referring back to mathematics. Sometimes they would say "cipherin' " (ciphering) (sigh-fur-in) when referring to doing math as well, where a "cipher" would usually refer to the number 0, I think. An example of using "reckon" or "reckoning" in a mathematical reference might be, "By my reckoning, you have twenty-six chickens there who lay an average of one egg a day."

Answer 10

It's a modern english word, but it is a little out of date.