weep / wept / wept.
So inflected. The erroneous form *”weeped” sometimes appears — e.g.:
o “Players from both teams weeped [read ‘wept’] and prayed.” Jarrett Bell, “Terrifying Injury Ends Player’s NFL Career,” USA Today, 23 Dec. 1997, at A1.
o “‘I can’t stand up. I can’t stand up,’ [Carolyn] Sims weeped [read ‘wept’] as family moved her to the bench of a nearby bus stop near Capitol Drive and Oakland Ave.” Linda Spice, “Mother Collapses After Speaking,” Milwaukee J. Sentinel, 15 Mar. 2008, at B1.
o “We should have known it was a blunder that day, when [Cedric] Benson weeped [read ‘wept’] openly and then ripped other NFL teams who had questioned his character.” Jay Mariotti, “The Joke’s on Us, Chicago,” Chicago Sun-Times, 8 June 2008, Sports §, at A78.
Language-Change Index — *”weeped” for “wept”: Stage 2.
*Invariably inferior form.
For information about the Language-Change Index click here.
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Quotation of the Day: “In addition to possessing a ready command of vocabulary, the good speaker must be endowed with an unerring sense of rhythm.” Simeon Potter, Our Language 91 (rev. ed. 1966).
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