# Reckon [American use?]



## tim

A while ago I was on the bus with a friend when a couple of American students who had just arrived in the country sat next to us and started chatting.

At one point they asked us far we were from the city and my friend replied, "I reckon about twenty minutes", a statement which induced uproarious laughter from them.  Apparently they'd never heard the word "reckon" used in this context.

So just a question for any Americans or Britons, is "reckon" used as a synonym for "think" in this way in other places, or is it solely Australian?  Because round here it's quite common...


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## Artrella

reckon (THINK)   /"rek.@n/ verb _ informal
to think or believe
What do you reckon - will it rain today?
"I think you've got a good chance of getting that job." "Do you reckon (= Do you think it is likely)?"
How much do you reckon (that) it's going to cost? [+ (that) clause]
I reckon (that) you won't see her again, not after the way you've treated her. [+ (that) clause]
"Can you fix my car today?" "I reckon not/so (= probably not/probably)." [+ not or so]


We were taught it as a British word, I don't know if Americans use it, I think they do._


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## Sharon

I reckon I've heard the word and used it a time or two, myself. I'm from Ohio, and I can't explain the cause of their laughter. Were they very young? That *might* be it, I've never heard the word from anyone less than 30.


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## Artrella

Sharon said:
			
		

> I reckon I've heard the word and used it a time or two, myself. I'm from Ohio, and I can't explain the cause of their laughter. Were they very young? That *might* be it, I've never heard the word from anyone less than 30.





What? So Americans don't use it???  Wow!  Thx for telling us, imagine when we go there and say "reckon"! They'd think we are over the hill!!!! Art


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## cuchuflete

Hi Tim,

It's actually fairly common in some parts of the U.S.,particularly the southwest.  I would guess that they laughed because it is an expression used by old men in Western movies.  Or...perhaps they were just boorish and ignorant.  Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they just found it amusing.

Cuchu


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## jacinta

*Reckon* is considered a backward term, used by "hill folk" or "country bumkins", at least by people on the west coast (no offense intended to those who actually use it).  If we say, "I reckon", we are making fun of the term.  It is used a different way in normal speech:

That kid is mean.  He is not one to *reckon* with.  meaning:  don't fool around with him.  Stay away from him. 
This use is much more common.


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## Artrella

jacinta said:
			
		

> *Reckon* is considered a backward term, used by "hill folk" or "country bumkins", at least by people on the west coast (no offense intended to those who actually use it).  If we say, "I reckon", we are making fun of the term.  It is used a different way in normal speech:
> 
> That kid is mean.  He is not one to *reckon* with.  meaning:  don't fool around with him.  Stay away from him.
> This use is much more common.




Good to know the American side of the story!!! Very interesting!!! So if I go to UK I think it'd be all right to say the "R" word.  But if I go see my Dad, never say "R"!!!! Thx for the advice. Art


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## quehuong

I live in the Ozarks of the Midwest, so I've heard the word *reckon* used like the way Mr. Tim's friend did, but it's stigmatized a little bit.  People my age and younger don't use it or use it very infrequently, except the ones from the country.


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## VenusEnvy

Artrella said:
			
		

> So if I go to UK I think it'd be all right to say the "R" word.  But if I go see my Dad, never say "R"!!!! Thx for the advice. Art



Yep, I reckon so


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## dave

I reckon it's a very common word in the UK - I use it all the time (meaning _think, believe, guess, calculate, postulate_ etc.).


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## Artrella

dave said:
			
		

> I reckon it's a very common word in the UK - I use it all the time (meaning _think, believe, guess, calculate, postulate_ etc.).




This means that I can go to UK  and "reckon" in peace!!!!!


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## tim

Ah, thanks all for the replies.

I hadn't realised that "reckon" had a quaint or old-fashioned connotation in the US.  Until now I had just thought they were laughing hysterically at a usage of a word they'd never heard before, and had thought to myself that they weren't going to make friends very quickly if they kept it up.

Knowing now that this wasn't the case, their reaction is perhaps more understandable.


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## Sharon

*Maybe* their reaction is a little more understandable...maybe *not*...but I'd still be willing to bet that they won't make friends very quickly if they keep it up !!


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## Chaucer

Hey, and I say "Hey!" because I want to counter the huge impression of "reckon" as backwoods or country or bumpkin in connotation, and so limited to quaint use by the sophisticated or educated, or to those less than. It is not. Many people of all stations and walks of life have it in their vocabulary. I use it as much as I use, for example, "well, considering", and I am not a country bumpkin or rural. But where I live now (and it is not the Southwest) people use it.

So if those Americans laughed, I do not give them the benefit of the doubt, they were being ignorant, as ignorant as they would be if they had laughed at anyone using "reckon" here.

Americans are not known for their linguistical breadth or powers even in their own language. The two students were ambassadors of the idiot sort.


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## cuchuflete

Chaucer said:
			
		

> The two students were ambassadors of the idiot sort.



and we all know that ambassadors are sent to represent the regime in power.


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## VenusEnvy

Chaucer said:
			
		

> Americans are not known for their linguistical breadth or powers even in their own language.



I didn't know about this horrible stereotypes.     I reckon you should speak for yourself Chaunce!      (j/k)


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## LV4-26

I have another question about "_reckon_". Can it mean "_claim"_ in some contexts?

I have this sentence 


> "At the moment they've got a dead woman, a grieving husband with a watertight alibi, me, X and you. I didn't do it and I don't think the police will believe I did it. Y is tucked up tight with a copper who says he was with him, you *reckon *you never did it and I haven't spoken to your man X yet but you reckon he didn't do it too. You two are the best candidates the police will have".


Elements of context
"they" at the beginning refers to the police
"do it" (as usual) refers to murdering the victim
Y is the grieving husband
X "works" for the addressee (actually they're a pair of villains).

While I can understand the second reckon, I fail to see how the first one (in bold) can make sense. How can you "reckon" you did something or not? Unless you're a sleepwalker (or schizophrenic or drunk). 

So there are two solutions
- either the statement is ironic. But then, could you explain?
- or _reckon_ means _claim _here. (though I've never heard or seen it used in that sense).

What d'you reckon?


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## cuchuflete

I reckon it means claim or assume or assert.  These are not common uses, but the context does suggest an assertion or at least a supposition.  If it's a supposition, perhaps the person in question was operating in a blackout, or has had a memory lapse.

I reckon it's pretty obvious from my answer that I'm as befuddled as you, and am just guessing.


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## meg-head

i have a friend from California and whenever i said the word reckon in a sentence she would laugh too! she thought i sounded like a 'country bumpkin'  i think were her words.. i quickly started to use ' i think' instead..


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## BasedowLives

shmeg-head said:
			
		

> i have a friend from California and whenever i said the word reckon in a sentence she would laugh too! she thought i sounded like a 'country bumpkin' i think were her words.. i quickly started to use ' i think' instead..



yeah, i wouldn't laugh or anything but i don't think i've ever used it in the sense of "to think".  it does sound very country to me and i live in the midwest.  the country is 2 states down.


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## foxfirebrand

I'm with Chaucer on this one.  _Reckon_ is a perfectly good word, with widespread use, and it's not bumpkinish or hillbilly.

Hollywood and TV attempts to represent Southern AE are hampered by cliches and cluelessness.  The overuse of "reckon" is a kind of buzzword *among people of limited experience*, to denote Southerners.

By limited I mean the kind of city-bound, TV-addicted couch-potato types who regard 85% of the Nation as "flyover country."  Well I reckon you can fly over _this,_ you bigoted losers.

Don't say "reckon" if you're a trendy hiphoppy latte-sipping metrosexual with nine maxed-out credit cards and a tendency to undergo panic attacks when your favorite sitcoms run their course and are canceled.  But your day of reckoning is coming, oh it's coming.
.


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## Brioche

tim said:
			
		

> A while ago I was on the bus with a friend when a couple of American students who had just arrived in the country sat next to us and started chatting.
> 
> At one point they asked us far we were from the city and my friend replied, "I reckon about twenty minutes", a statement which induced uproarious laughter from them. Apparently they'd never heard the word "reckon" used in this context.
> 
> So just a question for any Americans or Britons, is "reckon" used as a synonym for "think" in this way in other places, or is it solely Australian? Because round here it's quite common...


 
Just think of the uproarious laughter that will ensue when one of those Americans announces that he is Randy, or talks about scratching his fanny, or when his girlfriend says she roots for her local football team.


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## LV4-26

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> I reckon it means claim or assume or assert. These are not common uses, but the context does suggest an assertion or at least a supposition. If it's a supposition, perhaps the person in question was operating in a blackout, or has had a memory lapse.
> 
> I reckon it's pretty obvious from my answer that I'm as befuddled as you, and am just guessing.


Thanks all the same, Cuchu.


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## panjandrum

Reckon?  Perfectly good word.  I don't use it a great deal, but it has been around with a richness of meaning for a long time.  Dave summed it up nicely a few posts ago, "I use it all the time (meaning _think, believe, guess, calculate, postulate_ etc.)"  I'd add _estimate,_ _consider, conclude, judge._


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## LV4-26

panjandrum said:
			
		

> "I use it all the time (meaning _think, believe, guess, calculate, postulate_ etc.)"  I'd add _estimate,_ _consider, conclude, judge._


 But never ever _claim ?
_Cuchu doubts it but I need an answer from a BE speaker because my original sentence (7 posts back) was written by one. And _claim_ seems to be the only logical meaning in this context.


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## Roi Marphille

I usually say and write "_reckon_". It may sound odd coming from a foreigner like me.. 

I think it's one of these words/phrases that you get sticked to for some reason and for some time. I had a Swedish friend who said it all the time! so it flew to me


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## panjandrum

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> But never ever _claim ?_
> Cuchu doubts it but I need an answer from a BE speaker because my original sentence (7 posts back) was written by one. And _claim_ seems to be the only logical meaning in this context.


I reckon that... = I consider that... = It is my opinion that... = I assert that... = I claim that...


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## LV4-26

Thanks Panj.


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## Moogey

I thought 'reckon' was _only_ used in the US.  It thought people from the rest of the English-Speaking world would have no clue what it means. It's mostly used in the South here I think. It's my way of identifying the Southerners.

-M


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## GenJen54

Moogey said:
			
		

> It's mostly used in the South here I think. It's my way of identifying the Southerners.


 
Please see Foxfirebrand's post # 21, above.  While it's true it is _common_ in the south, it is found in all parts of the US.


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## I.C.

panjandrum said:
			
		

> Reckon?  Perfectly good word.


I reckon!
.


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## LV4-26

Moogey said:
			
		

> I thought 'reckon' was _only_ used in the US.


When I was in England quite a few years ago, the young people would use it once every two sentences.


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## timpeac

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> But never ever _claim ?_
> Cuchu doubts it but I need an answer from a BE speaker because my original sentence (7 posts back) was written by one. And _claim_ seems to be the only logical meaning in this context.


 
It definitely and often does mean claim - for me, anyway. It can also mean "consider".

I've been running through example sentences in my head and can't think of one which would differenciate them absolutely, ie one which would make it clear which was meant, but I'll try.

Say that someone was looking for a witness to a murder and so you offer a reward. Sure enough someone comes forward and says that they saw it. You are not sure if they are lying for the money - you could say to them "so you reckon you saw the murder, do you". You're not questioning their eye-sight (consider) but their truth (claim).


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## LV4-26

Thanks, Tim.
I've also seen a few other sentences on the internet where it worked better in that sense.
I guess it's one of those words that's been used so commonly that its meaning sometimes trespasses its original borders. Some sort of all-purpose verb.(in colloquial register, that is).


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## timpeac

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> Thanks, Tim.
> I've also seen a few other sentences on the internet where it worked better in that sense.
> I guess it's one of those words that's been used so commonly that its meaning sometimes trespasses its original borders. Some sort of all-purpose verb.(in colloquial register, that is).


 
Well it seems to me that someone neither "claims" nor "considers" anything - they merely say it. When Mr xxx says "I am king" it is other people who put the spin on his utterance by saying "xxx claims he is king" or "xxx considers he king". Both mean very different things and, in my opinion, in colloquial language (which I suppose doesn't work so well with such a potentially serious sentence - well serious if he means "claims" rather than considers) either could be replaced by "reckon" making such utterances potentially ambiguous.

Given that I am the only one to say so so far (although I do believe it quite strongly) perhaps this nuance is peculiar to London region speech.


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## mjscott

"dead reckoning" is a term used by sea navigators. It is estimating your position by the previous plan of your course, how fast you're going, wind speed, etc.

I don't suppose, do you, in the case of the dead woman, that the narrator was trying to do some dead reckoning?


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## LV4-26

And of course in air navigation, too.


> *In aviation, the phrase "dead reckoning" refers to a primitive form of aircraft navigation,*


Though it's indeed primitive, I suppose the crew of an aircraft would have to resort to that if say the communication, navigation radios and some of the instruments were all out. Which is a truely undesirable but truely unlikely situation.


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## timpeac

mjscott said:
			
		

> "dead reckoning" is a term used by sea navigators. It is estimating your position by the previous plan of your course, how fast you're going, wind speed, etc.
> 
> I don't suppose, do you, in the case of the dead woman, that the narrator was trying to do some dead reckoning?


 
Haha, yes I would agree the primary meaning of "reckon" is to consider, judge. However, to my mind, in certain contexts the meaning is clearly "claim".


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## BasedowLives

GenJen54 said:
			
		

> Please see Foxfirebrand's post # 21, above.  While it's true it is _common_ in the south, it is found in all parts of the US.



Yeah, it's found in all parts of the USA, probably with the same frequency as british slang though.


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## Brioche

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> And of course in air navigation, too.
> 
> Though it's indeed primitive, I suppose the crew of an aircraft would have to resort to that if say the communication, navigation radios and some of the instruments were all out. Which is a truely undesirable but truely unlikely situation.


 
There is nothing "primitive" about dead reckoning navigation.


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## Moogey

BasedowLives said:
			
		

> Yeah, it's found in all parts of the USA, probably with the same frequency as british slang though.


 
BasedowLives and GenJen54, while I'm sure it's used throughout the US, I've never, ever heard it in New Jersey--where I live--or in New York (although I'm not there that much), two of the three tri-state area states so different they got their own name "Tri-state area" -- basically I would it's because of the abundance of "city" (And I have only been in Connecticut for a small amount of time and that was a long time ago so I can't say for Connecticut).

So what's the point? Well there is none, except to let people know this word isn't frequently used in this area who care 

-M


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## LV4-26

Brioche said:
			
		

> There is nothing "primitive" about dead reckoning navigation.


 The page I was quoting says it's "primitive" (in air navigation) in the sense that it was used a long time ago and that I don't think it's used any longer as they have powerful instruments and radio navigation systems (ILS, VOR, DME...) and also radio guidance (air traffic control) that spare them those tedious calculations nowadays.
But I may be wrong. And hence, so may be the quoted internet page.

EDIT : Sorry. Actually, the word "primitive" is in the question, not in the answer. So that my very last sentence no longer stands. If I'm wrong, I'll be wrong alone


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## zam

RE 'reckon' = 'claim' ?

I've checked again with various 'knowledgeable' friends of mine and the Mc Millan, Oxford, Penguin + Thesaurus + online dictionaries  re 'reckon' = (unequivocally) 'claim' but have drawn a blank. We just cannot find an example where it is = to 'claim'. Since LV's case involves a 'legal' scenario let's take, as an example, a murder case, in a court of law, let's say that I, Zam, the defendant, have murdered my MiL (and at Xmas this is NOT difficult believe me)

Judge: Do you claim that you are innocent ?

Zam: Yes, I claim that I did not do it. 

Now, replace 'claim' with 'reckon' and tell me whether you think it'd be plausible.

Having said that, to say that this term is polysemous is an understatement and it could well have broadened its range to include 'claim' in some parts of the country, milieus or in the unfathomable vernacular of London's badlands.
Or it could simply be that the author has taken a few liberties with the language !


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## LV4-26

There are two or three instances of 'reckon' in that book that leave no doubt they refer to something definite and not just 'consider', 'regard', 'expect' or 'estimate'. (Two sure and one dubious). So there it is. None of us can help it. Maybe it's specific to that writer and his immediate social environment..*.Plus Tim! *



> Judge: Do you claim that you are innocent ?
> 
> Zam: Yes, I claim that I did not do it.
> 
> Now, replace 'claim' with 'reckon' and tell me whether you think it'd be plausible.


 When you asked your friends did you make it clear it was used in the second or third person?

I think your example doesn't work because it's in the first person. I agree with you that I can't imagine the defendant saying _I reckon I didn't do it_. But (don't ask me why) I find it less hard to magine a defendant's witness (provided he's a cockney lad and uses his street talk in court) saying '_he reckons he didn't do it'.

_


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## timpeac

Yes, LV4 - you're right. "I reckon I didn't do it!" is nonsensical to me too, but "John reckons he didn't do it" absolutely fine (albeit colloquial). And here I don't think you could replace "reckon" by "consider", only by "claim". There is a hint that the speaker doesn't believe John's claim as well.

How odd - I'm finding it hard to explain this meaning that is apparently restricted to certain persons of the verb - I've never noticed something like that before. Perhaps it is because John can't claim something and give the hint that he doesn't believe himself at the same time.


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## nikvin

A says ..... _I reckon I can do_..... , meaning he believes he can, thinks he can, but probably wouldnt be willing to bet lots of money on it.

B says   ........ C reckons he can do it... meaning C believes he can , but B may not be so sure about C´s ability.

Obviously a lot depends on context, tone of voice, etc..well at least i reckon so!!


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## nycphotography

timpeac said:
			
		

> Yes, LV4 - you're right. "I reckon I didn't do it!" is nonsensical to me too, but "John reckons he didn't do it" absolutely fine (albeit colloquial). And here I don't think you could replace "reckon" by "consider", only by "claim". There is a hint that the speaker doesn't believe John's claim as well.
> 
> How odd - I'm finding it hard to explain this meaning that is apparently restricted to certain persons of the verb - I've never noticed something like that before. Perhaps it is because John can't claim something and give the hint that he doesn't believe himself at the same time.


 

Compare:
Did you get the mail?
I reckon I didn't  = "I think I forgot"
I don't reckon I did. = "I'm trying to remember if I did."


And I STILL say this is a hickish/appalacian construct in AE (or at least one from the older generations).  We'd all be looking to see where he hid his overalls.  And I grew up in Kentucky, so I reckon if anyone should know his own hickish tendencies...


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## panjandrum

I reckon that the BE reckon can be very strongly assertive, as strong as a claim. But I don't think it is necessary to go that far to understand the original quotation. Let me take you back to LV4-26's resurrecting post in this thread where he quotes:


> "At the moment they've got a dead woman, a grieving husband with a watertight alibi, me, X and you. I didn't do it and I don't think the police will believe I did it. Y is tucked up tight with a copper who says he was with him, you *reckon *you never did it and I haven't spoken to your man X yet but you *reckon* he didn't do it too. You two are the best candidates the police will have".


That is a perfectly sound use of any strength of *reckon* if you consider the possibility that "you" and X almost certainly didn't use the work *reckon* at all.
Whoever is speaking is looking for ways to undermine the credibility of "you" and X. He clearly is depending on the fact that either you or X is a liar, and will wish to promote that idea. From the conversation to date, it seems clear that the use of *reckon* would do exactly that.

It goes a bit like this:
Bill:  I'm the King of the Castle.
Fred:  You reckon?


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## Isotta

nycphotography said:
			
		

> And I STILL say this is a hickish/appalacian construct in AE (or at least one from the older generations). We'd all be looking to see where he hid his overalls. And I grew up in Kentucky, so I reckon if anyone should know his own hickish tendencies...


 
I don't know why you single out Appalachian dialect, since you hear it all over the South. You do hear it 'round the hollers, where hicks and the (over)educated say it alike.

Z.


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## LV4-26

panjandrum said:
			
		

> Whoever is speaking is looking for ways to undermine the credibility of "you" and X.


 Yes, this is exactly how I feel it. 
That's why we said (and you did, too) it had to be in the second or third person.
However, I wouldn't say he's saying that the gangster (Wilkins)  is a liar. What he's saying is that *the police will reckon he's a lia*r. Consider this passage, a few pararagraphs on.


> *W* : No, I don't. I haven't done nothing.
> *Detective* : Famous last words, Mister Wilkins. As it happens, I know they're true.


 The last line is very important and, I think, may give the utimate key to this mystery.
You claim you didn't. And I know you didn't. But, to the police, it will have no more value than "_reckoning_". 
Still, I insist that it is a singular, border-line use of '_recko_n'. There's some sort of 'twist' somewhere. Something has been displaced. The subject of '_reckon'_ isn't really _'you'_. And that's why it almost comes to the same as '_you claim_'. (at least as long as translation to French will go )

I really feel like I'm after something I can vaguely see but not actually grasp with my hands.


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## I.C.

panjandrum said:
			
		

> reckon can be very strongly assertive


I reckon! 
I've heard it being used assertively on a regular basis.


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## nycphotography

I.C. said:
			
		

> I reckon!
> I've heard it being used assertively on a regular basis.


 
That's assertive?
I always hear a hint of reluctance when I hear it that way.


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## I.C.

nycphotography said:
			
		

> That's assertive?
> I always hear a hint of reluctance when I hear it *that way*.


 No doubt about it. Has to be a different way.


			
				I.C. said:
			
		

> I reckon*!* <---


 "I" and "reckon" both pronounced sharply, to assert something someone else has said and which the speaker strongly agrees with.

Did someone mention "a force to be reckoned with" and alike, yet?


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## Sabine Teaver

Hi, located in Georgia, I hear and use "reckon" every now and then.  Never had anyone laugh at me. I cannot say that the word somehow correlates with being old-fashioned, having a low educational level, or some other sort of being weird. But that might vary by region. As to the reaction of the American teenagers in question, it seems true that, when venturing out of one's country, one is considered an ambassador of sorts. Hence, misbehaving U.S. Americans abroad (or people of any nationality, for that matter) are taken to be representative of all U.S. Americans. Fair? No, but that's how it seems to work. I wouldn't make too much of the teenagers' reaction although it might have seemed rude at the time.


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## cuchuflete

Is this our day of reckoning?

I reckon that intonation, as well as context, can change 'I reckon" from a strong assertion to an expression of doubt.


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## gian_eagle

hello

what does "reckon" imply??

when you ask "do you reckon"

you mean that "you consider something" or that "you think or have an idea of something"?


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## gian_eagle

Yes GenJen54, this really helps!

So, "reckon" is not a verb commonly used in the US, except of some regions of the south, right?


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## GenJen54

The _perception _among many is that it is used primarily in the South.  This is mostly based upon its use in TV and movies where some straw-chewing rube is depicted as saying something to the following:

_(Said in strong southern hick drawl):_
_Well, Jim Bob.  I reckon we's fixin' to get fired if we don't get them cows milked soon._

It is used more widely than in the South, although many people associate its use to the Southern states.


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## cirrus

Here it is used all the time.  In the north west of England it's not unusual to come across people using the shortened form as in the question: "What do you reck?"  What they mean is what do you think/ feel about that.


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## panjandrum

Please search for previous threads on your topic before starting a new one.
I have merged today's question with the previous extensive discussion - so check the history before posting here


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## cuchuflete

Well I reckon he just done given all us a good piece uv his mind.


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## Debkamaine

I am from USA. In USA, reckon is considered a hillbilly word. Oddly, I talk to British people online and watch a lot of British television and have, lately, developed a great fondness for the word. I use it knowing that, to the American ear, it sounds hillbillyish.


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## PaulQ

In AE, I can hear "I reckon" followed by some obscure homespun philosophy or an ill-informed conclusion.
Billy-Bob: "Dang! the brake line's done bin bust - reckon duct-tape will hold it 'til we get down the mountain." or "Here, hold ma beer! Reckon I can shoot that hat right off of his head from here."

But in BE by a statement casually informed by years of experience rather as if the speaker, whilst wearing a tricorn hat, had calculated the result by reference to the a pocket-watch, a compass, and the position of the stars.


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## Debkamaine

PaulQ said:


> In AE, I can hear "I reckon" followed by some obscure homespun philosophy or an ill-informed conclusion.
> Billy-Bob: "Dang! the brake line's done bin bust - reckon duct-tape will hold it 'til we get down the mountain." or "Here, hold ma beer! Reckon I can shoot that hat right off of his head from here."
> 
> But in BE by a statement casually informed by years of experience rather as if the speaker, whilst wearing a tricorn hat, had calculated the result by reference to the a pocket-watch, a compass, and the position of the stars.


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## Debkamaine

EXACTLY!


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