[Ads-l] spin-span-spun

Paul A Johnston paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU
Thu Aug 6 15:19:15 UTC 2020


A good Class III.  Span, i know, but don't use it.
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, August 6, 2020 8:10 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: spin-span-spun

---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      spin-span-spun
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix has at least three instances of =
=E2=80=9Cspan=E2=80=9D as the past tense of =E2=80=9Cto spin.=E2=80=9D

I have the 2003 First Canadian Edition.

p. 715 in The Only One He Ever Feared
=E2=80=A6 as the centaur=E2=80=99s arm, holding its bow, span off and =
landed with a crash on the floor...

This occurs at least twice more.=20

The OED gives span and spun as equal past forms of the verb to spin. =
1882 is the most recent citation for span.

Lexico does not mention span (https://www.lexico.com/definition/spin =
<https://www.lexico.com/definition/spin>)
Merriam-Webster does not mention span =
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spin =
<https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spin>)

Wiktionary says span is archaic =
(https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spin#Verb =
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spin#Verb>)

Word Hippo says span is archaic or nonstandard =
(https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-past-tense-of/spin.html =
<https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-past-tense-of/spin.html>)

Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
Formerly of Seattle, WA=

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list