Is there such a word as "drownded"? I would say "drowned" but I am hearing "drownded" so often I am beginning to wonder.
For example:
He went into the deepest waters and drownded.
Tell me more
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The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) gives drownded as an alternative to drowned and there are ten citations throughout the dictionary illustrating its earlier use, but its use now is described as ‘vulgar’. Stick to drowned. |
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Drownd is an archaic form of drown from which drownded is an archaic form of drowned. It is still found in some dialects either by survival or by emphasis of the -ed since the rhymes-with-round sound of drowned may not sound as obviously past-tense to some ears as others. It's incorrectly frowned upon as incorrect, by people whose dialects did not retain drownd and drownded, and worth avoiding for that reason, especially in writing - so as to not only be correct, but to be seen to be correct. But likewise, since it isn't really incorrect, the only time it is appropriate to criticise someone for using it is if you are enforcing a style-guide (when you can criticise any decision that goes against it). Those using it are not wrong. Edit: In the dialect I grew up with, we were familiar with all four of drownd, drownded, drown and drowned. We knew that the latter two were received English, and would use them in writing, or when we wished to avoid dialectical words to "speak proper". I did not know they were retentions (my dialect has a good few retentions, some Hibernicisms, some borrowings from Ulster-Scots, and some presumably inventions of its own, but only as someone with an interest in such matters in later life do I know a bit about which are which), but we did use them. In general speech we favoured drown and drownded because drownd and drowned sound quite close to each other, while drown and drownded are clearly differentiated> |
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Merriam-Webster's 3rd Unabridged Dictionary of English (MW3UDE) lists "drownded" as a nonstandard spelling of drowned, which means that it has enough history to justify its use, but that it's probably not going to be seen very often, if ever, in formal English writing. Drowned is the current standard spelling. |
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c1850 – c1950 the heyday of drownded:
Too early to call it entirely wrong or deprecate it, perhaps. |
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