PPP "retrofit"

[Arnold Zwicky]

On Nov 5, 2008, at 7:34 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: PPP "retrofit"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I first heard PPP _shit_
> back in the 'Sixties...  I've also heard the PPP
> _shat_, possiby influenced by _sat_. I use _shitted_, myself.
>
> When I first heard white GI's using the pasts, "shit" and "shat," I
> thought that they were just joking or farting around. It wasn't until
> I was browsing through the AHD about ten years later that I discovered
> that these forms are as ordinary for some speakers as "shitted" is
> for others.

for what it's worth, OED2 has "shit", "shat", and "shitted" as
alternative *past* forms from the 17th c. on, but only "shat" and
"shit" for the past participle (and those from the 19th c. on, with
"shitten" as the form listed for the 14th-18th c.).  but NOAD2 lists
"shit", "shat", and "shitted" as alternatives for both the past and
the past participle.  i assume that OED2 will eventually get with the
program.

arnold

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