It's weird to me that at some point since elementary school, "sneak" became a weak verb. We used "snuck" in such a case. "Snook" was also an option in other cases, but now it's "all sneaked, all the time."

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Hm, good point. I generally go on feeling, from an English as an Nth Language point of view... and my subjective feeling is that "snuck" has more of a "participle" meaning, while "sneaked" has more of a "past tense" meaning.

According to AI Overview, there might also be some EN-US vs EN-GB at play:

"Snuck" is an irregular past tense: It's an alternative form that has gained widespread acceptance, especially in North American English.

"Snuck" is sometimes considered nonstandard in British English: While it's increasingly common in British English, it's still often seen as nonstandard in formal writing.

That would match the Wiktionary entry: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/sneaked

[–] tomenzgg@midwest.social 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS EARLIER.

Specifically, (as a native English speaker) my gut is to do the same thing (participle vs. past-simple) with irregular verbs such as this (others being dealt, learnt, spelt, etc.).

I couldn't sworn I read something about that usage when I was a teenager but everything I look up regarding them, now, chalks them up to being just an EN-US and EN-GB difference but, otherwise, entirely equivalent.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I have a strange idiolect. "Dealt" seems correct, but "learnt" and "spelt" do not. Neither would lead me to raise an eyebrow; I'd assume I'm interacting with a user of British English.

[–] tomenzgg@midwest.social 1 points 5 days ago

To be fair (according to everything I've been able to find), you ought to be as, apparently, they're more favored, over there. I dunno; I do suspect I picked it up from reading and The Wind in the Willows and The Once and Future King were favorites of mine, in childhood, so maybe that's it.