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Snuck / Sneaked

 

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View Poll Results: Which sounds better?
I snuck into the clubhouse. 10 76.92%
I sneaked into the clubhouse. 3 23.08%
Voters: 13. You may not vote on this poll

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  #11  
Old May 16, 2008, 12:04 PM
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It does look weird written

I think that although I say snuck, if I had to write it I would put sneaked.
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  #12  
Old May 16, 2008, 12:12 PM
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¿Well, Dave, what's the veredicto?
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  #13  
Old May 16, 2008, 01:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marsopa View Post
I think that although I say snuck, if I had to write it I would put sneaked.
Same here.
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  #14  
Old May 16, 2008, 01:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marsopa View Post
I think that although I say snuck, if I had to write it I would put sneaked.
Likewise.
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  #15  
Old May 16, 2008, 02:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poli View Post
¿Well, Dave, what's the veredicto?
Well, I don't know. I would personally use snuck, but I have seen sneaked, especially in writing.

Rusty and LaGata's information is quite interesting. I would be interested in hearing more about how this irregular form was introduced. Was it an invented form that then caught on? It is normal that over time irregular verb are regularized in a language, but the opposite is not often true.
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  #16  
Old May 16, 2008, 11:32 PM
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Soy enterado de que la norma es "sneaked" pero éste no se oye bien en mis orejas. Elegí "snuck". Pero al escribir elegiría "sneaked".
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  #17  
Old May 18, 2008, 06:11 PM
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Here is an article I came across regarding the sneaked/snuck topic.

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/inde...?date=19981221

BTW, the poll results are a little scary...lol.
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  #18  
Old May 18, 2008, 08:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LaGata View Post
Here is an article I came across regarding the sneaked/snuck topic.

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/inde...?date=19981221

BTW, the poll results are a little scary...lol.
Very interesting article Gata.

I recommend reading the entire article. Here are a few quotes I especially liked.

Quote:
"He grubbed ten dollars from de bums an den snuck home." This and other examples suggest that snuck was limited to the speech of uneducated, rural Americans.
Quote:
Since the 1950s, snuck has been found with increasingly frequency in neutral contexts--used as a standard past form in written sources without any suggestion of humorous intent. In present-day English, snuck is extremely widespread throughout the country, even among educated speakers, and in the speech of younger people it is the dominant form.
Quote:
Snuck is fully standard in American English.
Quote:
In British English sneaked remains the usual past form, with snuck appearing only in humorous or nonstandard use.
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  #19  
Old May 19, 2008, 06:24 AM
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I'm in denial, David, with regard to that third quote. Cheers!
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  #20  
Old May 19, 2008, 07:45 AM
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Yes, I liked the third quote, because it reinforces what I personally think is right. I guess I'm what the article calls a new generation who thinks that snuck is right, and hasn't even heard sneaked. Although I have seen it in writing.

But the article also makes a good point that in British English, sneaked the correct form across the board. I'll have to remember this for my future travels across the pond.
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