You may have noticed I get a little uptight about certain usages of grammar, which is strange, because I’m not at all a grammar expert. However, there are a few things I feel confident about ranting about. One of them is the word “snuck.” (For the record, in admin mode, WordPress underlines it in red, indicating it’s misspelled.) So ha. 

For me, this goes way back . . . to the classic movie, White Christmas. That’s right. This is where it all began. You see, there’s a scene (30 minutes into the movie) where the Haines sisters have to explain to the famous Wallace and Davis why the sheriff is in the office with a warrant to arrest them both! *GASP!* 

Judy: “Oh, the landlord is claiming we burned a hole in the rug and he’s trying to hold us up for two-hundred dollars.”

Phil: “Oh, no. Not that old rug routine.”

Betty: “On top of that, we sneaked our bags out of our room.”

(Another thing I’m confident about: The dialog is spot on. It’s sad cool that I know every like to this movie, right?) That’s what happens when you grow up watching this movie nearly every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas for about 20 years. I remember asking my dad, who really was a Grammar God, why Ms. Clooney said “sneaked” and not “snuck.” (Again it got underlined in red, just so you know.) He explained it was the proper usage. Good enough for me.

If you need anymore convincing, Brian Klems at Writer’s Digest agrees with me. So please, stop using “snuck” (I LOVE that red squiggly line!) and follow Betty’s lead. Smart lady.