In reply to:

Means run like the devil (was after you) I believe. From the era when you didn't say things like damn and devil in polite company, if I remember rightly.

Thanks for the parenthetical explanation, TEd of the strange pronunciation. Makes some sense out of it.

Speaking of euphemisms for swear words, my very prim and proper (<insert link to redundant pairs thread here>) mother-in-law says "belly" when she means "bloody".

Makes me belly laugh.