"Shaven"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Both sound OK, but "shaved" sounds better to me.

JL

On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 1:11 AM, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "Shaven"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 6/25/2012 12:52 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      "Shaven"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Is it dead?! I was describing to my wife a man who had a "shaven" head
> > and she corrected the adjective to "shaved," automatically! WTF?! Has
> > "shaven" gone the way of "proven"?!
> --
>
> "Shaven head" seems natural to me, "shaved head" also natural. I'm not
> sure which I would more often say.
>
> Always "clean-shaven" though, I think.
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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