I have a question regarding the origin, use, and meaning of the term "swamp out" as it relates to cleaning, e.g., "I have to swamp out the condo for visitors". I think I 'know' what it means, but can't find a really suitable reference.

welcome, MadDog!

I'm not sure that ever heard the usage, but it might be some sort of formation from sweep and mop?

That's a new one on me. I googled "swamp out" and found that the term is being used to describe the displacement of one thing by another, such as one type of plant that swamps out another. The verb to swamp, of course, means submerge, and this appears to be a variation on that idea.

But I wonder if this use you describe is a variation on "swab out".

TEd

My thinking too, TEd. "Swamp out" doesn't make much sense to me - of course, idiom often doesn't, on the face of it.

ah, the mighty eggcorn...

I am more familiar with the expression "Mucking Out The Byre" from the song of the same name. Might these two terms be in any way related?

and then there's mucking in poker: tossing in a bad hand without showing it (and, sometimes, lying about it; e.g., "I mucked a pair of aces!"

I've only come across mucking in the context of "mucking out the stables." That sounds pretty much self-explanatory and provides a unifying theme for the above usages...

>>mucking

Really not such a bad job -- if you like the horse.

Mucking mallecho? Miching? Whom?

>>Whom?

None, as I read it.

come across mucking in the context of "mucking out the stables."

The Muckin' o' Geordie's Byre

At a relic aul' croft upon the hill,
Roon the neuk frae Sprottie's mill,
Tryin' a' his life tae jine the kill
Lived Geordie MacIntyre.
He had a wife a swir's himsel'
An' a daughter as black's auld Nick himsel',
There wis some fun-haud awa' the smell
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

Chorus:
For the graim was tint, the besom was deen,
The barra widna row its leen,
An' siccan a soss it never was seen
At the muckin' o Geordie's byre.
For the daughter had to strae and neep
The auld wife started to swipe the greep
When Geordie fell sklite on a rotten neep
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

Ben the greep cam' Geordie's soo
She stood up ahint the coo
The coo kickit oot an' o whit a stew
At the muckin' o' Geordies byre.
For the aul' wife she was booin' doon
The soo was kickit on the croon
It shoved her heid in the wifie's goon
Then ben through Geordie's byre.

Chorus:

The daughter cam thro the barn door
An' seein' her mother let ooot a roar,
To the midden she ran an' fel ower the boar
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
For the boar he lap the midden dyke
An' ower the riggs wi' Geordie's tyke.
They baith ran intill a bumbee's byke
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.

Chorus:

O a hunder' years are passed an' mair
Whaur Sprottie's wis, the hill is bare;
The croft's awa' sae ye'll see nae mair
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
His folks a' deid an' awa' lang syne-
In case his memory we should tyne,
Whistle this tune tae keep ye in min'
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre!

the term "swamp out" as it relates to cleaning,

Could be someone just confused a couple of terms as mentioned here. A couple of other words that seem to be mixed up in some contexts are : hodgepodge and higeldy-pigeldy.
Then, on the othr hand, it could just be a person with a carefree relationship with language (and I love those folks) used the phrase and it gradually took on a life of its own and is spreading like soft butter on hot toast.

When my home or car are in need of a good swamping out, I generally say they are in need of an enema. Yeah, I know, it's gross if you think about it but that sums up the situation nicely.