drig drag drug?

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 7/3/02 12:35:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
millerk at NYTIMES.COM writes:

> Is there a particular term for switching a regular verb form to irregular?
>  How bought the other way around ? [Which would make more sense to me.]

An irregular English verb is sometimes called a "strong verb", presumably
because it has the strength to avoid conformity.  You might invent the term
"strengthening a verb" but I don't recommend it.  Nor would I recommend
"irregularize"---it just wouldn't make tense to me.

"swole" as past of "swell" could be due to the past participle "swollen".
I've never heard it, though.

"drug" as past of "drag" is common, enough so that it is in Merriam-Webster's
10th Collegiate, page 355 col 2 as "dial past of DRAG".  It is rather odd,
though, because there are other verbs in English of the form -ag (bag, brag,
fag (out), flag, gag, lag, nag, rag, sag, snag, shag (a fly ball), tag, wag,
etc.) but nobody ever brug about his adventures, snug her socks, got nug by
his mother-in-law, or wug a dog.  Most other incorrect irregulars have
obvious parallels: "squoze" by analogy with "froze", "snew" for "snowed" by
analogy with "blew".

     - James A. Landau