10/29/2009

Common English Exceptions

In my search for greater understanding of French, I stumbled upon a list of "common English irregular verbs." When the first three words were "abide, alight, and arise," I gave serious doubt to the commonness of the list. Sure enough, the list contained some other gems as well:

interlay
miswed
rive
soothsay
wend
zinc

Okay, I don't think I even knew that zinc was a verb. If you care, the gerund form is "zincking" and the past participle can be either "zinced" or zincked."

I pity the poor French kid who memorizes this list in hopes that it will help him find a bread store when he gets to America! And of course I wonder if sometimes I memorize equally inappropriate things in French.

2 comments:

Tom G said...

I use zinc all the time as a verb, but I don't think I've ever used zicned, zinked, zincing, or zincking, but rather just say zinc plating.

I.S. said...

Exactly. I have heard "zinc-plated" and "zinc-coated," but I don't think I have ever heard "zinced." If I did, I figured it was a lazy way of saying, "zinc-plated."