Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: troubleshoot / troubleshot / troubleshot.

troubleshoot / troubleshot / troubleshot. “Troubleshoot” is so inflected. The erroneous past-tense and past-participial form *”troubleshooted” sometimes appears — e.g.: o “Throughout the evening she troubleshooted [read ‘troubleshot’], greeted guests, mourned the winning low bid on a set of top-notch golf clubs placed by mistake on the silent-auction table, and worried about how the crowd was responding to the new location.” Nancy Bartley, “Far East Gala II,” Seattle Times, 16 Sept. 1991, at C2. o “Systems being troubleshooted [read ‘troubleshot’] will often be placed on a workbench or partially disassembled by an information-systems technician.” David P. Chernicoff, “WinSleuth Gold,” PC Week, 30 Nov. 1992, at 102. o “She’s budgeted, run elections outside the city, helped prepare tax bills, maintained vital records, taken County Board minutes, troubleshooted [read ‘troubleshot’] disputes, etc.” “Peoria County Clerk: JoAnn Thomas,” Peoria J. Star, 24 Oct. 1998, at A4. Language-Change Index — *”troubleshooted” for “troubleshot”: Stage 1. *Invariably inferior form. For information about the Language-Change Index click here. ——————– Quotation of the Day: “Every writer, by the way he uses language, reveals something of his spirit, his habits, his capacities, his bias. . . . No writer long remains incognito.” William Strunk, Jr. & E.B. White, The Elements of Style 66-67 (3d ed. 1979).
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