[hummingbird]

"Well, ah 'swan." Still dunno what it means.

I don't know the origin, either, BigB, but "I tell you whut," when people use it, they often squint their eyes down like something really significant is being pondered! Like somebody was "gonna get a whuppin" or "needed a whuppin."

[MagnumRancid]

It is likely that swan, as in "well, ah 'swan", is rooted in swoon. Kinda (or is it kindly?) like being overwhelmed.

[WVNan]

One day I answered the phone, and the voice at the other end said abruptly, "Whosiz?"

"With whom did you wish to speak," I said.

There was a long pause and then, "I kin tell ye right now by the way yer a-talkin' it's not who I's a-wantin."

[banjo joe]

"He needed killin'" is a legal defense in Ala.