Question: “I was corrected the other day at the office when I used the word ‘snuck.’ My co-worker insists that the correct past tense of ‘sneak’ is ‘sneaked’ – but that sounds so weird to me. Would you really say, ‘I sneaked out of the house to see a movie?’ Can you settle this debate for us?”

Answer: I’m afraid you’ve stumbled into one of the great grammar debates of our time – one that pits us against our fine British friends across the pond.

Right out the gate, I will say this: “Sneaked” is the formal, standard and “most correct” past tense of “sneak.” I don’t have any Ian Fleming novels lying around, but if I did, I would bet the word “snuck” doesn’t appear on a single page.

That is, unless Mr. Fleming’s works go through an American copy editor these days.

The Oxford Dictionaries describe the origins of “snuck” as dialectical (U.S.) and non-standard. Merriam-Webster – the American company, mind you – takes a much harsher tone, saying that “snuck” first appeared as a “dialectical and probably uneducated form.”

Ouch.

Both Oxford and Merriam-Webster go on to recognize that, however inauspicious its beginnings, “snuck” has gone mainstream. “‘Snuck’ has risen to the status of standard and to approximate equality with ‘sneaked,'” Merriam-Webster says. Oxford notes that there is now evidence of “snuck” being used by British speakers as well.

At the end of the day, I would probably lose my unofficial Grammar Guy badge if I did not reaffirm “sneaked” as the standard past tense of “sneak.” That being said, don’t be afraid to use “snuck” in less formal contexts and with our nation’s trademark stubborn pride.