A couple of heards:

[Wilson Gray]

On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 12:31 PM, W Brewer <brewerwa at gmail.com> wrote:

> knit ~ knitted (knitted me a sweater); sweat ~ sweated (I sweat(ed) like a
> pig)
>

For me, the only "correct" forms are the ones with -ed and "sweat" as the
past strikes me as an aberration. Only because I haven't encountered it
before, no doubt.

When I was in the Army, I heard "shat" used as the past of "shit" for the
first time. As is my wont, I assumed that this was a jocular form inspired
by such genuine military (mis)usages as the "I could care less!" shouted a
thousand times a day by drill-sergeants. Of course, IMO, the only "correct"
form is "shitted." Imagine my surprise, when I, by chance, came across
"shat" in the AHD.

BTW, "he shat his pants/himself" et sim. have the "correct" forms, "he
shitted in his pants"/"he shitted on himself."

Ah, the vagaries of variation!


--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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