singular plurals and linguistic oddities...

[DodgyGeezer]

I was reading a book the other day when this sentence came up: "They shined flashlights in the direction" and for some reason it really grated. I'd have thought, with my imperfect English, that it should be "shone", or is that one of a plethora of interchangeable words we have?

Leading on from that in a different thread we had a (minor) discussion about whether it should be "clad" or "cladded" - IIRC the consensus was clad was correct

The you have the whole question of whether it should be cannon or cannons (canons being an ecumenical matter )

The next question is is it unphased or unfazed - I would presume that one is an Americanism?

[p4cks]

'Inputted' when they mean 'input'.

[Skeptisk]

Shined is transitive version so used with an object ie they shined a flashlight. Shone is intransitive ie the flashlight shone.

[Roofless Toothless]

Snuck for sneaked annoys the hell out of me.

[Skeptisk]

Unphased, meaning not in phase, doesn’t mean the same as unfazed (not impacted by something). I don’t think I have come across unphazed though.

[Cold]

Flashlight. Do they mean torch?

[Skeptisk]

Roofless Toothless said:

Snuck for sneaked annoys the hell out of me.

Not sure. Feels like it should be irregular. When I look at the equivalent verbs in German and Danish they are both irregular.

[Portia5]

One moose and several moose.

[Mammasaid]

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep I herd...

[Turtle Shed]

Cleave

[TwigtheWonderkid]

1 goose, 2 geese.
1 mongoose, 2 mongooses.

1 leaf, 2 leaves.
1 Nissan Leaf, 2 Nissan Leafs.

Same with cactus/cacti & Citroen C4 Cactus/Cactuses.

Mouse/mice, but 2 computer mouses.

We're going to hang the picture, the picture had been hung.
We're going to hang the murderer, the murderer had been hanged.

[Portia5]

Mammasaid said:

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep I herd...

You heard 'herd'. I heard 'flock'. Though either or both could be many head.

[Voldemort]

[motco]

Dormouse...

If it's true that someone can be disgruntled, if the cause is removed do they become gruntled? Likewise dismantled etc.

[NumBMW]

motco said:

Dormouse...

If it's true that someone can be disgruntled, if the cause is removed do they become gruntled? Likewise dismantled etc.

Mantle is to clothe / or cover of sorts, and dismantle would be the removal of.
We just don’t use mantle any more

[cheesejunkie]

Like Susie Dent and she's a good source for this sort of stuff.

The English language is rich with history.

I have been guilty of a few of these - https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/165845144336...

But also agree that grammar nazis can be ignored.

Shined or shone, any listener would know what you mean.

[Blockbuster]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

1 goose, 2 geese.
1 mongoose, 2 mongooses.

1 leaf, 2 leaves.
1 Nissan Leaf, 2 Nissan Leafs.

Same with cactus/cacti & Citroen C4 Cactus/Cactuses.

Mouse/mice, but 2 computer mouses.

We're going to hang the picture, the picture had been hung.
We're going to hang the murderer, the murderer had been hanged.

There’s also the Toronto Maple Leafs (ice hockey team). It’s just never seemed right to me

[cheesejunkie]

Blockbuster said:

There’s also the Toronto Maple Leafs (ice hockey team). It’s just never seemed right to me

Toronto Maple Leaves would be a strange name given the alternative meaning of leaves.

[Jonquil]

She dove into the swimming pool.
No, klutz, she dived.

Going around the corner, the car span.
No, it spun.

Heinous

[thegreenhell]

One I heard recently was the use of drug instead of dragged, as in "we drug the car out of the ditch".