An American English Pondering

[gnomi]

I see "drug" periodically for "dragged," as in "It was all fine and dandy until we were drug away," and I recognize it as regionalism. But here's where I get to wondering: where did it come from? Are there -ag/-ug pairs in AmE for the present/past? I can think of a bunch of -ang/-ung sets (ring/rang/rung; sing/sang/sung; hang/hung; spring/sprang/sprung and so on), but I can't come up with any -ag/-ug sets.

Anyone? Bueler? ;-)

Comments

[tober.livejournal.com]

The closest thing that I came up with after a moment's contemplation was dig/dug... which isn't quite what you asked. Right now I can't even think of any verbs other than "drag" that end in "ag."

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

sag/sagged (I can't imagine anyone saying "sug") and snag/snagged (not snug) are the ones that just popped to mind right this minute.

AmE does -ink/-ank/-unk in the same way, except when it doesn't. Sink/sank/sunk, but not think/thank/thunk or blink/blank/blunk. :-)

[angwantibo.livejournal.com]

bag/bagged/bug :) This is my favorite.
lag/lagged/lug :)
nag/nagged/nug
tag/tagged/tug
wag/wagged/wug
brag/bragged/brug
flag/flagged/flug
zag/zagged/zug

[cbpotts.livejournal.com]

No idea -- but here's a poll question for you: when you don't go to work, because you're ill/in love/out of clean clothes, the process of contacting your employer to say you won't be there is:

Calling In

Banging In

Blowing In

(Some other variant?)

I'd post a poll, largely due to the fact I've heard a tremendous amount of the latter two options, lately, but people like your polls more.)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Heee! I'll make a poll in the next couple of days on that.

I love doing polls-by-request.

[eroticjames.livejournal.com]

I always see dragged as bizzar. I grew up in Texas saying "we drug him out the door," "they drug his carcass off to the hill."

And pleaded, as in "he pleaded guilty," we always said, "he plead (pronounced pled) guilty." Like read(pres)/read(past)...you would never say he "readed a book."

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Up here, you hear "he ple(a)d guilty" all the time.

[madfilkentist]

Has anyone else blug about the subject?

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

The only time I have ever seen a version of "drug" for "dragged" was as joke in Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. I think you made it up. :>

Small children tend to get the irregular verbs "wrong" because they have strong tendencies to regularize them. So I'd actually expect that "drug" in this context is not a natural colloquialism at all but a folksy creation.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I was under the impression that "drag/drug" was an older form which has mostly been regularized in most parts of the English-speaking world -- but not all.

[gooofy.livejournal.com]

I don't think that's true. Apparently it's in Merriam-Webster's 10th Collegiate, page 355 col 2 as "dial past of DRAG". But I think it's a recent innovation, like sneak/snuck.

[madfilkentist]

I use "snuck" informally, and I think I got it from my family.