To think that 'text' is not the past tense of 'to text'

[UptheChimney]

Actually, I know IANBU.

The past tense of 'to text' is 'texted,' as the past tense of 'to telephone' is 'telephoned.' It is conjugated as a regular verb, which in English means that one adds 'ed' to the present tense make the simple past tense.

Writing 'text' when you mean 'texted' just makes you look illiterate, and makes my teeth itch. The latter is far more important, obviously

Stephen Fry has something interesting to say about this...

YANBU

This is one of my pet hates. It just sounds uneducated.

I suppose people will adopt the version used by those with whom they feel most closely identified.

I agree that texted feels awkward to say, and text sounds 'common' or as if you lack the linguistic dexterity to say texted

'I sent a text' seems unnecessarily long.

Is there an alternative?

...and thanks for the Stephen Fry link Julie

I have never heard anyone say this

Is 'text' even a verb?

Texted just sounds awful though,I much prefer 'i received a text'

I hate texted, it sounds horrible. I think I text her actually sounds much better but texted is grammatically correct according to the dictionary.

'Texted' is obviously correct, because 'text' gives me the urge to scream. Q.E.D.

Texes is inexcusable. Normal, supposedly intelligent people say this, it makes me want to smash their faces in something.

I quite like it, because although the usage is wrong under current grammatical rules, its clearly a harkening back to older English and the second sound shift in Germanic languages, which saw the "d" at the end of words change to the "t". Obviously, in irregular, Norman influenced English, this didn't happen to the extent that it did in Dutch and German, however I think the current usage reflects a Germanic discomfort with pronouncing a "d" conjugation following a "t" in close proximity to aspirant sounding "x" - pronounced as "s" in most other Germanic languages.

Therefore, since current English grammar is so grammatical, it is quite possibly an inane attempt at more regular grammar or following more ancient grammatical rules in the general population, which is a far more interesting trend than insisting on current (ie Mercian old English) usage.

jammiedonut Texted just sounds awful though,I much prefer 'i received a text

This is quite insightful. It reminds me of the discomfort with the use of the word "got" - English speakers are generally encouraged to say "I have" or "I was given" rather than "I got", are they not? Yet the earlier "gotten" was discarded in English (retained in American English), quite possibly due to a similar discomfort as "texted". So perhaps this follows the same rule.

I just hate the use of "text" as a verb in general.

Texted sounds clumsy. But it's correct. Lets make it a silent ed. Written texted but pronounced text.

English speakers don't say "losted" when they have lost someone.

Perhaps it needs a prefix e.g. "getext" "ytext" "aantext"!

Or "texten"...

This is filling my brain way too much...

hmm, when we have sent someone a letter we dont say 'I lettered him, we say I wrote to him, perhaps we could say 'I typed him' instead of I texted him.
What I am getting at is, maybe we need another verb to describe the act of sending a text?

I usually use 'texted' or 'sent a text'.

The one that I always feel uncomfortable with is 'messaged' because it doesn't feel like a verb to me! I had the same problem during the Olympics when the commentators said an athlete was going 'to medal'.

In my last job my boss used the word "texes" which is very irritating.

I will texes him
Shall I texes you?

It drove us all absolutely crackers, mind you she was a bit.....eccentric anyway! She could never say "baked beans" she ALWAYS had to say "Beanz meanz heinz beans", which comes up quite a lot when you do the breakfasts for a pub/hotel. "Do they want tomatoes or beanz meanz heinz beans?". THat gets old very very quickly!

Actually, can I add a gripe?

People who say PIN number instead of PIN. It is your Personal Identifying Number (or something) not your number number!