To think that the past tense of the verb to text is texted, not text!

[Marmitelover55]

Assuming it is actually a verb and not a noun...

I would say anyone on JK would defintely be saying text rather than texted. They aren't known for a good grasp of the english language, are they?

Damned, there's another one. Past tense equals -ED.

I think "texted" sounds a bit precious out loud, but it's what I'd write.

I'll never used texted. It looks and sounds ridiculous. Other people can do as they please

No- its sounds ridiculous to say text in the past tense.You wouldn't say "I walk there yesterday" or "I eat it last week" would you?

I'd write "texted" but I think I would say "text" and be happy to use it in the past. Maybe it's irregular - like bid or bet or burst or set or split.

I always write 'sent a text' to denote the past tense as 'texted' sounds wrong to me.

YANBU. The Past Participle must be 'texted'.

I think it will end up the same as "broadcast" / "broadcasted" and both options will be fine. It's the consonant cluster at the end which sounds awkward.

And while we are talking about past tense, why does it say "Terry Wogan dies" in the "In Mumsnet news" sidebar? It's clunky and annoying. He has died, it is not an ongoing process that we are live streaming. They may be using the dramatic/narrative present tense for emphasis but its inappropriate in the context.

New verbs normally occur as regular verbs, so you'd expect past tense and past participle texted. However, for reasons of phonology, some speakers may produce the past tense and past participle as text. Only time will tell which form wins. Perhaps they'll remain alternatives.

Although the current meaning of text is new, it first occurred as a verb around 1600 when it meant 'To inscribe, write, or print in a text-hand or in capital or large letters'. The past tense and past participle occur as texted in all the OED's citations, including those illustrating the current meaning.

my view concurs with the above. But if I did text anyone I would say 'sent/send a text' to avoid the difficulty.

Same on BBC news "Broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan Dies" is the headline.

People who say "texted" sounds wrong are studiously ignoring posts asking whether things like "tested" and "rented" also sound wrong. Interesting.

Because news headlines are almost always written using either the present, or the present perfect. I imagine to make them sound more immediate.
Newspaper English has always been stylistically specific and different to "ordinary " English.

Texed would still be said "teksud" even if you had missed the final T. Which obviously would sound even worse than "text" as the past.

I love words. I am fairly fussy about written grammar and spelling and much less so with spoken English. I like hearing how language develops and changes. But I will never be able to accept text as the past tense and I will also always scream quietly inside when someone says "myself" or "I" when they just mean "me".

Good IADNBU then

The thing is, grammar rules just aren't arbitrary. You can't say "oh the rule in the OED is that the past tense of this verb is X but I'm going to carry on using Y"
Well, you can, obviously. But you look a bit daft.

People who say "texted" sounds wrong are studiously ignoring posts asking whether things like "tested" and "rented" also sound wrong. Interesting.

I don't think it sounds wrong, just a bit prissy and outdated I suppose.

The sound is unnatural because there are 4 consonants in close succession "kstd" and while we are used to the sounds of "faxed" and "boxed" , an extra "ed" or "d" sound is awkward.

It's a bit like trying to say "faxted" or "boxted" and even though the dictionaries state that "texted" is correct, in time I think it will disappear. Just like we now say "o'clock" and not "of the clock" etc

No, it's not in the least like saying "faxted" because there is no such word as "faxt". There's nothing wrong with four consonants in quick succession - look at things like "attended" and "instanced", which has six.

The sound is the same as "faxted" (yes despite their being no such word, the succession of phonemes was what I was alluding to). The sounds in "attended" are very easy to pronounce. The tongue is in the same position for n and d.

In "instanced" again the tongue is in position for the "n" and "c" and is quite different.

If "texted" was very easy to say then there would be no issue at all raised.

veritat my knowledge of pronunciation is a bit rusty but maybe the 3 plosive consonants in a row /k/ /t/ and /d/ makes it more complex for the mouth to produce (lots of stop starting instead of gliding between sounds).

It's the final sound of the stem which determines the pronunciation of the past tense anyway, so fax (final sound being S) has /t/ as its past tense pronunciation. It would never be pronounced as /faksted/ because the stem isn't faxt.
In "attended" there aren't really any consonant clusters, except for /nd/ and "instanced" has just /nst/ and /ns/ which don't present any issues.
Try "sixths" if you want fun with clusters.

YANBU

The 3 consonants in a row are /k/ /s/ and /t/ in texted.

But, Iguana, there are only two sounds in "texted": teck and sted. It's no more difficult in terms of tongue manipulation that "quickstep". No one suggests that should be "quickst" because it's too difficult to say.

Sweet mama.

I KNOW that there is no such word as "faxted" and I know that word would never exist - I was using it to explain how "texted" is similarly awkward to say.

elle yes that's it- it's the nature of the plosives in succession which makes it awkward. In 20 years' time I expect it will have died out.