To think, to “guess.” The N.E.D. quotes Sir R. Cecil (1603), Richardson (1748), Foote (1776). Now Dial. in England; and more used in the south than in other parts of the U.S. See Appendix XXV.
bef. 1811. “My good friend,” said I, “am I on the right road to Walpole?” “Yes,” replied the man; “you are on the right road; but I reckon you must turn your horse’s head, or you’ll never get there!” [This was in New England].—John Bernard, ‘Retrospections of America,’ p. 320 (N.Y., 1887).
bef. 1811. One of them was very severe upon all aristocratical institutions. “Aha!” he exclaimed, “In them ere places I reckon they’ll call a chap ‘highness’ who an’t not above five feet in his shoes; and then again another mister ‘excellency,’ who keeps a gal, perhaps, and never goes to meetin’.” [This was in N.Y.].—Id., p. 351.
1812. See ’CUTE.
1819. Asking very civilly, “Can we breakfast here?” I have received a shrill “I reckon so.”—Letter, Oct., 1819, in Mass. Spy, Jan. 8, 1823.
1828. I made some inquiries, whether he was in the habit of receiving strangers? “I reckon so,” was the answer.—T. Flint, ‘Arthur Clenning,’ i. 10 (Phila.).
1835. See ROCK.
1846. See CLEVER.
1852. The New Englander calculates, the Westerner reckons. One feels more than he expresses, the other expresses more than he feels. The pride of one is his acuteness, of the other his bluntness. One solicits popular favors by puppet play, the other by a direct presentation of his own claims and opinions.—Yale Lit. Mag., xvii. 177 (March).
1855. Boys say with us, and everywhere, I reckon, “You worry my dog, and I’ll worry your cat.”—Dr. Ross of Tennessee, in the “New School” General Assembly at Buffalo.
1859. She was good-lookin’, and I kind o’ liked her from the very fust: I reckon she did me, too, but not to-once, I expect.—Knick. Mag., liii. 206 (Feb.).
1863. If you can take this [slave] property by compact I reckon you cannot take it against the consent of the owners without making just compensation to them.—Mr. Garrett Davis of Ky., U.S. Senate, Feb. 7: Cong. Globe, p. 783/3.
1890. See VARMINT.
1908. She met Sam on the way out, and says she: ‘Sam, what do you reckon? My quilt took the premium.’—Eliza C. Hall, ‘Aunt Jane of Kentucky,’ p. 68.
