Oh, do I know them? I positively swill in their ale.

The line is a comic, hyperbolic way of claiming intimate familiarity with a group—so familiar that the speaker not only “knows” them but metaphorically drinks their beer to excess. “Swill” suggests both abundance and a slightly coarse, self-mocking tone, implying the speaker’s closeness is rooted in shared, everyday conviviality rather than polite acquaintance. In Sturges’s world, such phrasing often signals a character who is boastful, performative, or trying to establish credibility quickly, using earthy imagery to sound authentic and socially embedded.