The Language Use and Grammar Curmudgeon

So how is everyone this first day of FebRUary? This is my birthday month and you'd better pronounce it correctly.

I get this way every FebRUary. I get annoyed when people can't pronounce words the way they should be pronounced.

It's pronounced "offen" not "of-Ten"! I mean, you don't say "sofTen" do you? And while we're at it, gosh darn it, the past tense of "drag" is "dragged" -- not "drug"!

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• #4 Comment from debisabelEntry Author 
  2/2/06 10:10 AM | Permalink

  Jack,
  
  You're too funny. ha. ha. ha. Oh my. How funny you are.
• #3 Comment from rdwdjck 
  2/1/06 10:50 AM | Permalink

  HAHAHAHA --
  
  I may be in trouble for this, but here goes:
  
  When it's "Feb., you worry."
  
  Har har har [BANG!] Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh................
• #2 Comment from rdwdjck 
  2/1/06 10:47 AM | Permalink

  >Uh-oh<
  The trouble-maker is at it again:
  Same source as my last entry:
  
  Main Entry:3drug
  
  dialect past of    DRAG
  
  :-)
• #1 Comment from rdwdjck 
  2/1/06 10:42 AM | Permalink

  What's the past tense of "sneak?"
  I looked it up once, because I thought "snuck" was wrong and it was properly "sneaked" (which doesn't exactly roll off the tongue).
  
  So, courtesy of Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary, I offer:
  [please forgive the transcription anomalies]
  Main Entry:1sneak
  Pronunciation:*sn*k
  Function:verb
  Inflected Form:sneaked  \*sn*kt \ ; or snuck  \*sn*k\ ; sneak£ing
  Etymology:akin to Old English sn*can to sneak along, Old Norse sn*kja
  Date:1594
  
  intransitive verb  
  1 : to go stealthily or furtively  : SLINK  *snuck out early*
  2 : to act in or as if in a furtive manner
  3 : to carry the football on a quarterback sneak
  transitive verb   : to put, bring, or take in a furtive or artful manner  *sneak a smoke*
  synonyms see LURK
   ñsneak up on : to approach or act on stealthily
  usage From its earliest appearance in print in the late 19th century as a dialectal and probably uneducated form, the past and past participle snuck has risen to the status of standard and to approximate equality with sneaked. Indications are that it is continuing to grow in frequency. It is most common in the United States and Canada, but has also been spotted in British and Australian English.