Do You Stink?
@owlwings (43915)
Cambridge, England
April 13, 2017 6:41am CST
There used to be a well-worn schoolboy conundrum which went:
"If frozen water is 'iced water', what is frozen ink?"
The unwary small, innocent person would inevitably fall into the trap and confess that they had a certain odour about them!
I know that I was a victim of the joke once, so I might tell you that "I don't stink today, but I stank in the past and I have stunk many times before."
I had to look up the proper usage just now because even I (a seasoned English user) felt confused about which word I should use and why. I tried both and one sounded right and one sounded wrong or slightly odd but I couldn't tell why.
The answer is that "stank" is the past tense and "stunk" is the past participle. I think there's only one other word which behaves in the same way and that is 'drink'.
** Edit: There seem to be two: 'sink' is another!
This has been an Informational Announcement. I thank you for your attention. I think you are all wonderful and I would never have thunk it possible that such fun could be had from a bad smell!
12 people like this
13 responses
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
13 Apr 17
I stink, therefore I am.
I love the word 'thunk'. It's so right, but seems so wrong.
3 people like this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
13 Apr 17
the fact that stink, stank, stunk are all versions of the same word has always amused me
2 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
13 Apr 17
It always reminds me of the declension of 'this' in Latin: "hic, haec, hoc, hunc, hanc, hoc, huius, huius, huius, huic, huic, huic, hoc, hac, hoc" (That's just the singular and I'm surprised that I remembered most of that without thinking too hard, to be honest!)
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
17 Apr 17
@owlwings wait, that's one word?
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
18 Apr 17
@owlwings I guess there must be latin classes somewhere, I dont think many places teach it anymore
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (72317)
• Philippines
13 Apr 17
He stinks, he stank yesterday and he has stunk for many years.
2 people like this
@toniganzon (72317)
• Philippines
13 Apr 17
@hereandthere I'm suddenly reminded of our trip to Singapore. I've met a lot of people that really stink, stank, or is it stunk?
2 people like this
@hereandthere (45671)
• Philippines
13 Apr 17
@toniganzon i think i'm stuck between stank and stunk! good thing i don't teach english!
2 people like this
@hereandthere (45671)
• Philippines
13 Apr 17
hilarious! and someone i hope never to meet!
2 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16498)
• China
13 Apr 17
Maybe I am another victim of the joke .I think iced water is a drink with a small block of ice in it other than frozen water.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
14 Apr 17
@changjiangzhibin89 The answer expected is, of course, "Iced ink" (sounds like "I stink")., hence the schoolboy joke.
Yes, the past participle of 'think' is 'thought' and 'thunk' is not a real word. English people find that amusing, sometimes.
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16498)
• China
14 Apr 17
@owlwings Sorry!I am stuck by the question.Not sure if can call it iced ink.I know stink ,stank ,and stunk refer to irregular verbs,but past participle of think is thought,not the thunk.I am a bit at a loss.
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
13 Apr 17
@owlwings I just sung this to myself in my head and it took me three or four goes to actually get it! I can be so slow sometimes.
3 people like this
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
13 Apr 17
@owlwings and @dhoyalahoy think we should adapt stunk as an abbreviation for stinking drunk
1 person likes this
@allknowing (130088)
• India
13 Apr 17
Were you having a bath that you got inspsired to write this post. Surely cannot be an out of the blue thought.
This reminds me of a day when we were kids the Principal just walked into our class one day and asked us to say 'twelve' We all said it the way we thought was right and then she corrected us. Not twell but twelve emphasising the ve.
English language has no logic.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
13 Apr 17
Whatever logic it once had was changed by the Saxons, the Vikings, and the Normans in turn and then half forgotten and revised and reconfigured by people who had studied Latin and Greek and thought that it ought to be fitted into that mould.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45671)
• Philippines
13 Apr 17
so it's i didn't drink today, but i drank in the past, and i have drunk many times before?
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
13 Apr 17
@hereandthere That's another little peculiarity.
'Drunk' is used as the past participle of 'to drink', in the passive voice and also as an adjective to describe a state of inebriation.
Examples:
"I have drunk tea with the Queen"
"Tea is usually drunk at four o'clock precisely"
"I am drunk now and I have been drunk many times before"
BUT "What shall we do with the drunken sailor?"
@hereandthere (45671)
• Philippines
13 Apr 17
@owlwings but the meaning changes when it's "i have been drunk many times before."
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45496)
• United States
13 Apr 17
I should have read this when I was more awake!
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
13 Apr 17
Easy peasy for Germans as the verb is of Germanic origin. The pronunciation is different but the vowels are the same.
Infinitive: stinken
Past Tense: stank
Past Pariciple: gestunken
Same with to sing and to drink. In case you're interested:
Infinitive: singen / trinken
Past Tense: sang / trank
Past Participle: gesungen / getrunken
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
13 Apr 17
Thank you! I had not thought of 'sing' but I did think of 'sink' after I posted (and have added it).
German has retained the 'ge-' suffix which English lost quite early on, though it still lives on disguised as 'a-' in a few words.
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
22 Apr 17
Talking about stink have you ever had to tell someone that they actually did stink! She stank to high heaven! I had no choice but to tell her!
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
22 Apr 17
I don't ever remember doing so, except when my daughter was doing work experience on a farm and had been mucking out the pigs. Then I did have to say that she stunk - but, of course, she knew it and was going to have a shower as soon as she got home!
1 person likes this