Stoopid unevolved language

[yendi]

I know that "betted" is still technically considered perfectly valid as the past tense of "bet." I know it, but I still hate that form. A lot. And I hate it more in fiction, since "betted" ain't never good writing, no matter how correct it might be.

I'm not naming the book (one word shouldn't be enough to damn an entire novel), but I swear, if it had happened a hundred pages earlier, I'd have quitted reading it then and there.

Comments

[allah-sulu.livejournal.com]

I saw what you did there.

[lonesomenumber1]

I'd have quitted reading it then and there.

Good thing that's where your post ended.

How do you feel about "lighted" versus "lit"?

[yndy.livejournal.com]

lol!
I just commented on the "lighted" versus "lit" abomination right below this, before reading your comment.

[lonesomenumber1]

I know it's correct English, but every time I read about how the hardboiled detective lighted a cigarette, it takes two or three pages before I can get my head back into the book.

[yendi]

I tend to forgive it in older novels (and since the only current detectives I read are Burke and Kinsey Millhone, it doesn't come up very often in my contemporary works).

[yndy.livejournal.com]

ditto...

Thank heavens "lit a cigarette" is equally as correct! :)

[yendi]

As I said below, that one annoys me, but not as much.

[yndy.livejournal.com]

I have a particular pet-peeve against "lighted" in place of "lit" - yes, I know it's acceptable... it just *sounds* inbred.

[dragontdc.livejournal.com]

To me, "lighted" implies the presence of "lights" (artificial light sources), while "lit" implies the presence of light itself. If I hear that a place is "well lighted", I visualize rows of lights or multiple lamps or such, while "well lit" could have any kind of light source, including the sun.

[yendi]

I share your peeve, although it annoys me less than "betted." I put "lighted" into the same category as folks who pronounce "leisure" as if it rhymes with "pleasure," but I've occasionally heard it used without making me grimace.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I flinch at "pet" as past tense for "pet," e.g. "yesterday, I pet my dogs."

Flinch. Twitch. All that.

[yendi]

I'm pretty sure that one's just flat-out wrong.

If it's not, it should be, dammit.

bet

[litch.livejournal.com]

It has to be used in the active voice for it to work for me and that's pretty unusual for a past tense