spit-take

Nakhlasmoke · Jun 11, 2007

While reading work in SYW and in other online critique forums I've noticed that Americans seem to use "spit" as past tense for "spits"

Is this well...normal?

I've always been taught that "spat" is past tense.

"John spat on the ground" is how I would say it, but I see "John spit on the ground" and no-one else mentions it as an issue. Basically, am I missing something here?

pdr · Jun 11, 2007

Nope...

it's American. Like dove for dived. The rest of us say spat.

poetinahat · Jun 11, 2007

But not all Americans say it. It's a commonly-heard error that has come into common usage.

CaroGirl · Jun 12, 2007

I see spit as past-tense for spit all the time when I'm reading, and a lot people say it that way. I use spat, written and spoken, and spit is one of those things that really bugs me, a pet peeve, if you will.

Silver-tongued Devil · Jun 14, 2007

pdr said:
it's American. Like dove for dived. The rest of us say spat.

Americans are "the rest of us". British English is the minority. Approximately 75 percent of all English speakers in the world use American English so please refrain from any pompous attitude about the king's English.

Roger J Carlson · Jun 14, 2007

From right here in the middle of the Mid West, I would always use spat as the past tense of spit.

glendalough · Jun 14, 2007

I'm American and say spat. So do my kids but I notice that no one else does. Of course, we are in the south and my kids don't say "We got no...whatever" either.

Jamesaritchie · Jun 14, 2007

Spat

Uh, even in America, "spat" is the past tense of "spit." If you see "spit" as the past tense, you're reading someone who doesn't know much about grammar.

newmod · Jun 14, 2007

Silver-tongued Devil said:
Approximately 75 percent of all English speakers in the world use American English ...

Would it be possible to know where this stastic came from? I´d be interested to have a look. Thanks in advance.

Oh yeah, put me down for spat.

Julie Worth · Jun 14, 2007

Silver-tongued Devil said:
Americans are "the rest of us". British English is the minority.

And the proof of that is in the pie chart. (Brits are only third.)

Maryn · Jun 14, 2007

It's a common grammar mistake that I suspect is easing into the language, looking for weak spots, and will be considered a correct alternative within 50 years.

For now, I'd green-light it in dialogue and narrative in which the POV character wouldn't necessarily know or care about speaking correctly.

Maryn, who rarely has occasion to discuss spitting in the past tense at all

Haggis · Jun 14, 2007

Silver-tongued Devil said:
so please refrain from any pompous attitude about the king's English.

I saw nothing remotely like a pompous attitude in that post.

Julie Worth · Jun 14, 2007

In my WIP--a southern novel--I have exactly one instance of spitting, and not a single instance of gum chewing. Which sounds way too prissy, I think, so now I'm wondering how much oral action I need. Hawking up one good-sized loogie per chapter, would that do it?

Silver King · Jun 14, 2007

Haggis said:
I saw nothing remotely like a pompous attitude in that post.

I've noticed our friend has been anything but silver-tongued, and, ironically, has assumed a pretentious tone in other responses made in this forum.

arrowqueen · Jun 14, 2007

'...so please refrain from any pompous attitude about the king's English.'

Oooh! That's us told and no mistake!

Actually...

a) It's the Queen's English at the moment. It won't be the King's English again until Charlie-boy gets the throne.

and

b) English is the mother tongue, so no matter how many people speak it, American English is merely a quaint, regional variation.

arrowqueen · Jun 14, 2007

(I'll be behind the couch, wearing Kevlar and a tin-hat, if anybody wants me.)

Haggis · Jun 14, 2007

arrowqueen said:
'...so please refrain from any pompous attitude about the king's English.'

Oooh! That's us told and no mistake!

b) English is the mother tongue, so no matter how many people speak it, American English is merely a quaint, regional variation.

Yeah, but look at all the extra paper you waste by insisting on using that unnecessary "u" after the "o" in words like favo(u)rite and
clo(u)r. It kills trees, people. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

Flay · Jun 14, 2007

I say spat, but spit as past tense has been in common usage since at least the 17th C. Every dictionary I've seen, from the first OED on, gives the two forms as acceptable, with no comment except, in some cases, to note that p.t. spit is more common in the US than in the UK. The prohibition isn't a rule, it's a superstition.

Flay · Jun 14, 2007

arrowqueen said:
b) English is the mother tongue, so no matter how many people speak it, American English is merely a quaint, regional variation.

Proto-Indo-European is the mother tongue. All non-PIE speakers are just so many barbarians.

Jamesaritchie · Jun 15, 2007

arrowqueen said:
'...so please refrain from any pompous attitude about the king's English.'

Oooh! That's us told and no mistake!

Actually...

a) It's the Queen's English at the moment. It won't be the King's English again until Charlie-boy gets the throne.

and

b) English is the mother tongue, so no matter how many people speak it, American English is merely a quaint, regional variation.

Regional? Yes, if "regional" means most of the world.

arrowqueen · Jun 15, 2007

Yep. As you boys keep telling us: 'Size doesn't matter.'

:tongue

P.S. And yes, it's 'spat.'

Soccer Mom · Jun 15, 2007

Silver King · Jun 15, 2007

Soccer Mom said:

Soccer, if you spit one more popcorn kernel in this thread, we're gonna have us a spat.

Soccer Mom · Jun 15, 2007

I spit them all over the floor along with my tabacky.

I be from the sticks, so ya gotta excuse my lack of Queen's English. I didn't have my pinky up when I was typing that either.

TrainofThought · Jun 15, 2007

I’ll take ‘spit’ for $100 please. Spat sounds too proper. “I spat in your face.” Go with hocker (look it up). “I shot a hocker in her hair.” Now that gets a reader’s attention.

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