CHAT smite (was: Performative verbs)

On Tuesday, August 31, 2004, at 07:37 , Mark P. Line wrote:

> John Cowan said:
>>
>> ObTrivia:  The rarest English irregular verb is believed to be "smite",
>> preterite and past participle "smote", one in a million words.
>
>
> I wonder how frequent it is in the King James Bible.
Dunno.

But this side of the Pond, "smote" is only the preterite; the past
participle here is "smitten" and is not particularly rare. But it has to
be admitted that modern usage of "smitten" is often metaphorical -
typically describing a young man who has been smitten by the charms of
some young lady  ;)

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On Wednesday, September 1, 2004, at 06:36 , Philip Newton wrote:
[snip]
> Isn't the pp "smitten"?
Certainly it is in Brit English - or just 'smit' in some dialects. What
happens on t'other side of the Atlantic, I leave to others.

Ray
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