Would you use the word "snuck" in a newspaper article?
Maybe I am getting old and persnickety.
In an article about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in today’s Ars Technica web site (www.arstechnica.com), the author used the word “snuck”. As in, “Ars snuck in to take a look”.
To me, ‘snuck’ is a word that teenagers use because they haven’t learned to speak proper English. To have it in a news or feature article smacks of lousy writing and even poorer editing.
Should the editors have snuck “snuck’ into this article?
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18 Answers
Snuck is commonly used in America. I guess maybe it is not the best choice. Sneaked in is better. I don’t associate it with teenage talk. I don’t know if it’s considered part of a dialect? I would have no problem with it in an article. I can see why it sounds odd to some people. It’s similar to when someone says or writes they burnt the pot roast. I use burned, but they are both correct.
“Snuck” is permissible but not standard. I’d use “sneaked.” See this.
I think snuck is perfectly fine usage. Maybe it sounds funny because you associate it with the slang use of sucks.
If anyone still cares;
”Snuck is used in American and Canadian English as the past tense and past participle of sneak, but it is considered non-standard, i.e., ol for dialectal and informal speech and writing. The standard past tense is sneaked. Snuck is relatively new, an Americanism introduced in the late 19th century.” Source
Heavens, no. No.
I also wouldn’t allow “drug” as the past tense of “to drag”, though I did hear that in a radio interview last week. The mind reels.
No. In fact, I just edited an article yesterday to say “sneaked.”
The “snuck” is probably there for the exact reason you stated. The word itself announces the deed in question to be a sort of “teenage prank”.
How very common, no, i’d use “snucked” or better still, “creepied”
A British word to me, and it means something you did before past tense i don’t understand why it riles you so, in fact it’s a word adults use not just teenagers.
Well, in my usage lexicon, snuck has sneaked its way in.
Sneak it right back out of there, @janbb!
Wow. I’m surprised to hear that snuck is considered non-standard. Sneaked sounds odd.
I snuck into the theater. I sneaked into the theater.
The former sounds much better to me. Do most of you disagree?
@dxs Both sound normal to me.
Since it was a newspaper, perhaps we should refer to their bible: the AP stylebook, which says:
The AP Stylebook advises the use of sneaked — “Do not use the colloquial snuck.”
I like best what The Awl said: “It is sneaked, bitches.”
Why not? The media uses the word “busted” to describe something that has broken. “The culprit was arrested after having snuck into the theater.” And it appears in my Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.
I would.
Indubitably.
Common. Cute. Current.
It’s simply one more illustration of language’s tendency to continually evolve. This is why we don’t speak in King James English on an everyday basis. The same goes for Shakespearean English.
I would be more annoyed were I to read this in the New York Times or a review of a legal case where formality is the clear standard.
A Tech site on the net is far more modern, so some flexibility is to be expected.
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