Legal Writing

Slink, Shrink, and Wink

By Maeve Maddox

Last week I found the word slinked in manuscripts submitted by two different members of my writers? group. In both mss I drew a wavy line under it to represent the shudder that the -ed past ending on this verb stirred in me.

The principal parts of slink are slink/slunk/slunk.:

Then I got to thinking about various verbs that rhyme with slink and realized that although slinked pushed my shudder button, I have no problem with winked. And while I accept slunk as the simple past of slink, I?ll never become reconciled to the movie title Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. I want it to be Honey, I Shrank the Kids.

The verb shrink has an additional kink: the attributive form shrunken.
Ex. My sweater has shrunk in the wash.
BUT
Just look at this shrunken sweater!

Here are some more verbs that rhyme with slink. I’ll define only those that I think may be unfamiliar to some readers.

clink/clinked/clinked
?to make a sharp, abrupt metallic sound?
The chain clinked as he walked.

blink/blinked/blinked
The prisoner blinked in the bright sun.

drink/drank/drunk
Like shrink, drink has an attributive form ending in -en: He walks like a drunken sailor.

fink/finked/finked
?to inform on?
The petty criminal finked on his boss.

kink/kinked/kinked
?to twist or curl stiffly, especially at one point.
The hose kinked at the worst possible time.

pink/pinked/pinked
?to cut or perforate?
The tailor pinked the edges of the cloth.

stink/stank/stunk
The garbage stank up the house.
The Compact OED gives stunk as an option for the simple past.

think/thought/thought
He thought a long time before making a decision.

ink/inked/inked
Her job was to ink the platen press.

link/linked/linked
The blogger linked to several sites.

sink/sank/sunk
The boat sank in a squall.
Like shrink and drink, sink has an attributive form ending in -en: He?s looking for sunken treasure.

skink/skinked/skinked
Yes, this is a word in the OED:

skink: v. trans. To draw or pour out (alcoholic drink), to decant; to offer or serve (wine, etc.) to a person.

Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on February 15, 2010 (boomark / email).