"be pet" vs "be petted" unscientific analysis

[firecat]

It's looking to me like a substantial proportion of the people who think "I like to be pet behind the ears" is correct have spent a certain amount of time in Michigan, Windsor, or Minnesota, or know people from there.

Then again, I grew up in Michigan (left in 1981) and I never heard it there, that I recall.

Comments

[pameladean]

And that is actually correct, unless you're talking about wine. For fussy values of "correct," anyway. The past tense of "lie" is "lay" and the past tense of "lay" (pesky, pesky, pesky verb as it is) is "laid." Forgive me if you know all this.

I've lived in Minnesota for years, but I didn't grow up here, and I don't know all that many people who did. And you know, it's amazing how the past tense of "pet" will just not come up during years of conversation.

P.