Snuck vs Sneaked

Sollluna · May 31, 2014

I use the word 'snuck' all the time in spoken conversation, and wasn't aware it's not a real word until my spell-check pointed it out.
The alternative correct past tense is 'sneaked'.

"He snuck a cookie from the jar"
"He sneaked a cookie from the jar"

With this example, snuck seems much better somehow.
However, with a different example:

"He snuck up behind her."
"He sneaked up behind her."
With this example I think sneaked works.

From a quick online search it seems as though 'snuck' may become increasingly accepted in American English and depending on the tone/vocabulary of narrator it could be used. However, 'sneaked' is still the correct past tense.

I think I'll avoid it entirely and just use a different word like stole or crept, but I'm wonder what people think.

What is the acceptable past tense of sneak, 'snuck' or 'sneaked'?

Night_Writer · May 31, 2014

Snuck is a real word. Spell checker isn't perfect. I have the same issue with my spell check. But snuck is in the Mirriam-Webster dictionary as the past tense of sneak, as an option to sneaked. Both are OK.

Roxxsmom · May 31, 2014

I think sneaked was considered more appropriate at one time, but snuck is acceptable now. It's like dived and dove; you may use either.

You're right that spell checker doesn't like snuck (at least the firefox one doesn't, as it redlined it). On-board spellcheckers use very incomplete dictionaries, though, not even as good as an abridged MW. You can add words to them, however.

Sollluna · May 31, 2014

Any difference between American English and British English?

I assume it's more accepted in American English, since the Oxford online dictionary says it's informal, chiefly North American.

Once! · May 31, 2014

Sollluna said:
Any difference between American English and British English?

I assume it's more accepted in American English, since the Oxford online dictionary says it's informal, chiefly North American.

Absolutely!

In UK English, we say sneaked and dived, not snuck and dove. On this side of the Atlantic, a dove is a white bird and has nothing to do with the act of diving.

"Snuck" is beginning to be used informally, but we are a long way from accepting "dove".

I watched an episode of Sesame Street once where Big Bird explained that Fred is in front of Joe. Joe is in back of Fred. And at that point every UK English speaker would have either thrown something at the screen or (more likely) tut-tutted very loudly. Just because we say "in front of" does not mean that we can also say "in back of".

I think this goes back to Noah Webster making the American version of English more logical and rules based. UK English tends to work by exception - we just know that you can say "in front of" but you can't say "in back of". Largely thanks to Webster, American English tends to work more by precedent - if we can say "in front of" we must be able to say "in back of".

Neither approach is right or wrong. It's just where we are.

Jamesaritchie · May 31, 2014

"snuck" is a real word, but this does not mean it's an appropriate word for formal English. It's still colloquial, and certainly has its place, but you're saying a lot about yourself as a writer, and a lot about your character, when you use it, so do not use it in any sort of formal writing. Or, for that matter, with a character who should know better. Most of your readers, and your editor, will know when you get it wrong.

WriteMinded · Jun 11, 2014

When I was young, a very long time ago, snuck was NOT a word. Now it is. I cannot get over my loathing of it.

arabajyo · Jun 11, 2014

Once! said:
Absolutely!

In UK English, we say sneaked and dived, not snuck and dove. On this side of the Atlantic, a dove is a white bird and has nothing to do with the act of diving.

"Snuck" is beginning to be used informally, but we are a long way from accepting "dove".

I watched an episode of Sesame Street once where Big Bird explained that Fred is in front of Joe. Joe is in back of Fred. And at that point every UK English speaker would have either thrown something at the screen or (more likely) tut-tutted very loudly. Just because we say "in front of" does not mean that we can also say "in back of".

I think this goes back to Noah Webster making the American version of English more logical and rules based. UK English tends to work by exception - we just know that you can say "in front of" but you can't say "in back of". Largely thanks to Webster, American English tends to work more by precedent - if we can say "in front of" we must be able to say "in back of".

Neither approach is right or wrong. It's just where we are.

I'm American, but "in back of" sounds absolutely wrong to me. I've never heard that before.

King Neptune · Jun 11, 2014

WriteMinded said:
When I was young, a very long time ago, snuck was NOT a word. Now it is. I cannot get over my loathing of it.

That's great! You must be significantly over one hundred years of age. I didn't realize there was anyone that old on here.

Once! · Jun 11, 2014

arabajyo said:
I'm American, but "in back of" sounds absolutely wrong to me. I've never heard that before.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GuyInBack

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/in+back+of

From the second link:

Usage note
55. Although some object to their use, the phrases in back of and the shorter—and much older— back of with the meaning “behind” are fully established as standard in American English: The car was parked ( in ) back of the house. Both phrases occur in all types of speech and writing.

JulianneQJohnson · Jun 11, 2014

I don't blame you, OP, for simply choosing a different word. In my area of the country, "sneaked" is simply not used, and sounds and reads funny.

So does, "in back of." for that matter. I would cock my head at anyone around her saying "in back of" rather than the far more simple "behind." At the same time, "before" has such a sense of time associated with it that I much prefer "in front of."

Language and dialect is such a funny thing.

King Neptune · Jun 11, 2014

JulianneQJohnson said:
I don't blame you, OP, for simply choosing a different word. In my area of the country, "sneaked" is simply not used, and sounds and reads funny.

So does, "in back of." for that matter. I would cock my head at anyone around her saying "in back of" rather than the far more simple "behind." At the same time, "before" has such a sense of time associated with it that I much prefer "in front of."

Language and dialect is such a funny thing.

As an American I find "in back of" just fine, but using "more simple" instead of "simpler" seems to be a waste of breath, words, etc.

WriteMinded · Jun 12, 2014

King Neptune said:
That's great! You must be significantly over one hundred years of age. I didn't realize there was anyone that old on here.

Well, now ya know.

alexaherself · Jun 14, 2014

I don't think I'd ever seen the word "snuck" before reading this thread.

I think I'd probably have worked out, if finding it somewhere, that it's a US derivation from "sneak".

Marlys · Jun 14, 2014

There are regional variations in American English where if there's a choice, some areas prefer to use weak verb forms (past tense made by adding -ed) and some strong (past tense made by vowel change). So if you meet someone who uses "snuck," chances are they'll also say "dove" (not "dived"), "lit" (not "lighted"), "shone" (not "shined"), etc.

I grew up with strong verbs--"sneaked" and "dived" sound as wrong to me as "writed" would.

But as I was writing this, I realized do make a "shone"/"shined" distinction: the intransitive is always "shone," as "the stars shone," "the light shone in my eyes," but the transitive is "shined," as in "he shined his shoes until they shone." Not sure how that happened, but it's a rule in my personal grammar.

shakeysix · Jun 14, 2014

Back when I attended Bedrock High, using "snuck" instead of sneaked would take a grammar point from a grade--even a history or psych paper. I cannot use "snuck" and it clinks whenever I read or hear it. It is a personal thing.

To illustrate my great age let me add that "dork" was a word so vile that it was listed in the Bedrock High School handbook as a "Leave this classroom now!" word. It means penis in some obscure biological sense. Now, even penis is not a "Leave the classroom!" word. Times change. I can deal with dork and penis but I can't use "snuck" because sneaked is ingrained in my Literary DNA--s6

PS--speaking of DNA--In my high school biology text, there was a photo of two fresh faced kids named Crick and Watson and a brief paragraph or two about DNA. It was too new for a whole page. How's that for old?

King Neptune · Jun 14, 2014

shakeysix said:
Back when I attended Bedrock High, using "snuck" instead of sneaked would take a grammar point from a grade--even a history or psych paper. I cannot use "snuck" and it clinks whenever I read or hear it. It is a personal thing.

To illustrate my great age let me add that "dork" was a word so vile that it was listed in the Bedrock High School handbook as a "Leave this classroom now!" word. It means penis in some obscure biological sense. Now, even penis is not a "Leave the classroom!" word. Times change. I can deal with dork and penis but I can't use "snuck" because sneaked is ingrained in my Literary DNA--s6

You can't be all that antediluvian. "Dork" only goes back to early '60's, and it would have taken a while for it to get into the handbook.

PS--speaking of DNA--In my high school biology text, there was a photo of two fresh faced kids named Crick and Watson and a brief paragraph or two about DNA. It was too new for a whole page. How's that for old?

DNA was discovered more than a decade earlier. Bedrock must have been really cheap, or they would have updated books by that time.

shakeysix · Jun 14, 2014

No. Dork only made it into the handbook after kids had been using it for five or six years. The bad words are usually obsolete for a couple years before teachers catch on that they are bad. --s6

Tazlima · Jun 14, 2014

We just have to follow the pattern.

The past tense of "wreak" is "wrought" so the past tense of "sneak" must be...oh wait.

(I know the past tense of "wreak" is actually "wreaked" but I couldn't resist).

Chase · Jun 14, 2014

Tazlima said:
The past tense of "wreak" is "wrought" so the past tense of "sneak" must be...oh wait.

Bet you feel wroughten after having snucked that one in.

King Neptune · Jun 15, 2014

Tazlima said:
We just have to follow the pattern.

The past tense of "wreak" is "wrought" so the past tense of "sneak" must be...oh wait.

You snought in an excellent compromise. Let us all starting using it.

shakeysix · Jun 15, 2014

It wrang my heart--s6

byron100 · Jun 22, 2014

I find it hard to believe that snuck isn't an accepted word, as I've *always* used that instead of "sneaked." Seriously, who uses "sneaked??"

Example: "The kid sneaked into the darkened theater and took a seat on the front row." "The kid snuck into the darkened theater and took a seat on the front row."

Seriously, which of the two would you prefer to see in a work of fiction? To me, it's snuck all the way - always has and always will be.

(This is one reason I'm dreading the day I have to buy a new computer, as my 10,000 or so spell-check corrections would no longer work...man, that's going to be a cruel bummer to be dealing with that.)

amergina · Jun 22, 2014

I was just thrilled when my editor let me keep dreamt in my manuscript.

But yes, I use snuck, too. For lo, I have a funky dialect.

Ketzel · Jun 22, 2014

OK, I grew up in Brooklyn, which is my usual excuse for grammatical oddities in my writing, but I'm having a hard time with the "'in front of' is OK but 'in back of' is not" position.

In my world, I get behind in my writing, but when I put the dishes away, the red bowls go in back of the blue ones. And if I put the red bowls behind the blue ones, to me it means the blue ones hide the red ones, which doesn't necessarily happen if the red ones are in the back. Why is this so? Heck if I know.

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