"Dasn't"

       The return of a word I hadn't thought of or used in a long time.  My dad's word, at least on occasion, but I remembered it.

       Last night I was contemplating what snack to have at bedtime with my gin and tonic.  Told myself:  "I dasn't have them," i.e., too many cashews for the salt on them.

       I heard the words in my dad's voice.  I wasn't even sure it was a word.

       Merriam-Webster calls it dialectical and meaning "dare not," and it is partly a contraction of Middle English "darst not" and partly a contraction of "dares not."

       That was my surmise if I were to find it at all.  Don't know where or how Dad picked it up (his education ended with 8th grade), but I'm glad he was speaking good English!