What is the past tense of "to slink," as in "to slink away from an important negotiation?"

[MineralMan]

Is it "slinked away" or "slunk away?"

You decide which of the following is the correct news headline, or select one of the other alternatives:

13 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	President Trump Slinked Away from NK Summit
	1 (8%)
	President Trump Slunk Away from NK Summit
	8 (62%)
	President Trump Fails to Perform at NK Summit
	0 (0%)
	President Trump Not Up to The Job in NK
	1 (8%)
	President Trump Experiences Deal Dysfunction in NK
	0 (0%)
	President Trump Fails to Rise to Occasion in NK
	0 (0%)
	President Trump Shows Ass in NK Summit
	0 (0%)
	President Trump Pantsed by Kim Jong Il in NK
	2 (15%)
	Other (Create Your Own Headline)
	1 (8%)
	Bwahaha!
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[CentralMass]

1. According to the learned Dr Seuss it is "slunk"

Last edited Thu Feb 28, 2019, 02:55 PM - Edit history (1)

[MineralMan]

2. Mmmm...Roast Beast!

[TheBlackAdder]

15. If it's stink, stank, stunk. . . I guess it would be slink, slank, slunk.

[FakeNoose]

22. Not necessarily

Bring - brought - brought

English has a lot of irregular verbs.

[MineralMan]

28. Or "think, thought, thought."

All rules in English are void - sometimes.

[TheBlackAdder]

37. Dang. I was just sticking to the Dr. Seuse Grinch theme.

[llmart]

36. Pet peeve of mine...

It's "Seuss" not "Suess".

Just a friendly reminder.

[CentralMass]

40. Thank you for pointing that out. Sloppy on my part.

[Soxfan58]

3. Trump bombs bigly

[MineralMan]

4. Nice!

[dalton99a]

5. "turned tail"

[MineralMan]

6. Great photo!

[panader0]

7. Gotta go with slunk.

It doesn't sound right, but I believe it's correct.
There are a lot of weird words out there.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

12. That's right. Also slinked.

Source

In the animal world, slinking looks like this:

[magicarpet]

8. To take a trDump at the negotiating table.

[tinrobot]

9. His personal Vietnam / Bay of Pigs.

[comradebillyboy]

10. He slunk like a skunk...

[MineralMan]

11. Indeed he did. Smelled like one, too.

[RainCaster]

13. Trump's tiny flaccid performance in Vietnam

That's the headline

[MineralMan]

14. Flaccid is an excellent word to pair with Trump!

[cyclonefence]

16. Slink, slank, slunk

Today Trump slinks; yesterday he slank; in the past he has slunk.

[MineralMan]

17. Aha! An additional alternative!

Thank you for that.

Parallel with drink, drank, drunk. Perfect.

[cyclonefence]

20. Well, I was an English major n/t

[MineralMan]

21. As was I.

You have, however, trumped my original post!

[CTyankee]

18. My New American Dictionary says you are right!

So slunk is right here.

I just love it

[cyclonefence]

19. Oh for heaven's sake

That is ridiculous!! Thanks so much for letting me know!

[CTyankee]

23. Well, I just happen to have my dictionary at my computer desk...

you never know when you might have to look up something...

[MineralMan]

24. I have consulted an authoritative source on this:

http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-english-verb-slink.html

"slank" is not used in the conjugation of the verb "slink," apparently. It is somewhat irregular, it seems. Some authorities differ on this, however, so it remains an unsettled question.

ETA: Slank was once used as the simple past, but it's now archaic, according to dictionary.com's entry.

Language is funny. Always.

[cyclonefence]

25. I'm somewhat irregular myself

Fiber helps.

CTYankee disagrees, btw. About "slank," not irregularity.

[MineralMan]

27. Well, English is such a strange language.

So full of rules, yet so prone to violate them, depending on who is speaking, and where.

I do wish, now, however, that I had included the "slank" option in my poll.

"President Trump Slank Away from NK Summit" has a nice ring to it, somehow.

[treestar]

31. It shows when little kids are learning to talk

It is so interesting how they will apply the rules unconsciously.

"I taked" kid is using rule, just doesn't know it is irregular. Kid is correct in a way.

Then they learn it is took and go on to use "tooken" as a participle not knowing it returns to regularity.

"I eated" He "drinked" and so on.

[MineralMan]

33. Yes. The irregularity of verb conjugations in English

is a stumbling block to learning. However, there are irregular verbs in most languages I know. Many of them are part of the basic parts of the language, besides. Verbs for to be, to go, to have, etc., are irregular in many languages.

It's just that English has borrowed so many words from so many languages, that it's chock-full of really irregular verbs. And don't get me started on spelling/pronunciation. That's a nightmare for every English learner.

Still, every language has its own quirks.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

26. Larry David Says "Slunk"

[saidsimplesimon]

30. This was my choice for a response.

Thanks for the time saver Broccoli. I laughed...

[UCmeNdc]

29. Trump #Fail slunk away like the failure as a person he is.

[Mme. Defarge]

32. Slunk because

slinked is too dignified.

[JCMach1]

34. Slink slank slunk

To paraphrase Seuss

[MineralMan]

35. Think, Thank, Thunk.

Blink, Blank, Blunk.

English verbs are a disaster.

[TheBlackAdder]

38. Trump was Qaddafi'd by a corn cob by Kim Jong Un as he boarded AF-1.

.

.

[meow2u3]

39. Either one is correct, per Merriam-Webster

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slink

slink verb
ˈsliŋk

slunk ˈsləŋk
also slinked ˈsliŋ k)t
; slinking
Definition of slink

(Entry 1 of 3)

intransitive verb
1 : to go or move stealthily or furtively (as in fear or shame) : steal
2 : to move in a sinuous provocative manner

transitive verb
: to give premature birth to —used especially of a domestic animal a cow that slinks her calf

[lostnfound]

41. Slithered. Nt