Grinded vs. Ground

[Erozetta]

Tell me more...how would you write it? Use lot's of words.

Lots of words.

 

[dirk2024]

Lots of words.

Spoilsport.

 

[Erozetta]

Spoilsport.

Just following your directions.

 

[anthrodisiac]

Perhaps split the difference and use grounded? That would be a down to Earth response to the dilemma.

I would just like to point out the amazing pun work here.

Also: Ground.

 

[Cagivagurl]

Okay, this one has been tripping me up as I read various stories here.

It's the act of one person rubbing their sexual region against another person's sexual region. Doesn't really matter the genders involved.

The present tense of the word is "Grind". But many are writing in the past tense. To me it seems like "ground" is the word choice to go with. "Debbie ground her clit across Chad's pubic bone."

But I am seeing the word, "Grinded" a lot. "Debbie grinded her clit across Chad's pubic bone." Now I don't find grinded in Miriam Websters, but I do find it in Wordhippo.



Grinded just doesn't quite sound right to my ears. How does it sound to your ears? What version do you use when you write?

Opinion only, but...
I think it's an instance where you ignore correctness, and use the word you think best describes the action...

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I mean, the participle can solve this if you choose to use it.

"He was grinding his still-clothed crotch against her ass when his wife came into the room with her .38."

 

[FrancesScott]

I would just like to point out the amazing pun work here.

It’s nice to be appreciated!

 

[TheLobster]

I absolutely go with "grinded" when we talking about mashing naughty bits together, be it clothed or not, because the absolute last thing I want to evoke in the reader during sexy parts of the story is any association with turning something to dust using fast-spinning metal blades. Like, eww, seriously, no.

Anyway, when I saw this thread I immediately thought of "hanged" / "hung", which was briefly mentioned, and which I'm still not sure about. I generally use "hanged" for active verb and "hung" for passive, so:

He hanged a picture on the wall.
Decorations hung on the Christmas tree.

but then there are what I feel as exceptions, such as He was hanged at the break of dawn. because surely you're not gonna say about the now-dead guy he was hung. (And if he was, that wasn't because of the manner of his execution).

 

[TarnishedPenny]

‘Grinded’, frankly, makes my teeth itch. It may be that it is creeping out of the sewers here and there, but I’d rather get dragged through carpet tacks and dipped in rubbing alcohol. /r

 

[Writer61]

It literally, genuinely does. In English you are straight up allowed to make up a word and use it.

Because you can does not mean you should.

 

[StillStunned]

Yes, yet how lengthed until us writing is considered grammatically uncorrect?

2050, according to 1984.

 

[StillStunned]

2050, according to 1984.

New challenge: Newspeak erotica!

"Plusgood! Plusgood! Plu-- Ungood. Doubleplusungood."

 

[TheLobster]

New challenge: Newspeak erotica!

"Plusgood! Plusgood! Plu-- Ungood. Doubleplusungood."

I’d rather go to room 101.

 

[Bamagan]

Ah, Shakespearean English. My kingdom for an etymologist!
A most vexing aspect of our odd tongue, that rules of words apply until they don't.

It seems to me that grinded is understandable (if unpalatable) to most because it follows a quite common rule for past tenses: adding -ed, such as mind (to care for or observe) > minded. Quite a few similar words with '-ind' have their own rule, though, as mentioned above: bind > bound, find > found, etc. Some even do both! For example: wind (to turn or twist) > wound or wind (to lose breath, play certain instruments) > winded (and sometimes the past tense is still just wind!). So either way one wants to grind, there's precedent for referring to having done it that way.

I think there's a certain logic to using grinded as the past tense for at least some applications of the verb, such as 'to operate by turning a crank', where it might seem odd or confusing to say, "I ground my barrel organ, the monkey danced, and the crowd was delighted." The first clause is ambiguously tensed, so to speak: you can tell from the subsequent ones that the verb ground is probably past tense since those actions are in the past, but at first you might be thinking that the action is setting the organ down in the present tense*. I'm not sure if either use 'sounds' right if you say something like, "I grinded four pounds of beef for the meal," versus, "I ground four pounds of beef for the meal."

*Edit: Assuming you, the reader, have any clue what a barrel organ is or what it does, because otherwise any kind of verbing that sucker will be confusing.

 

[TheNovelist2000]

Okay, this one has been tripping me up as I read various stories here.

It's the act of one person rubbing their sexual region against another person's sexual region. Doesn't really matter the genders involved.

The present tense of the word is "Grind". But many are writing in the past tense. To me it seems like "ground" is the word choice to go with. "Debbie ground her clit across Chad's pubic bone."

But I am seeing the word, "Grinded" a lot. "Debbie grinded her clit across Chad's pubic bone." Now I don't find grinded in Miriam Websters, but I do find it in Wordhippo.



Grinded just doesn't quite sound right to my ears. How does it sound to your ears? What version do you use when you write?

I hate the word 'ground'. To me, it feels like turning something into dust. E.g. ground coffee...When I read Debbie ground her clit, I imagine her putting it in a mortar and pestle and grinding it. The word often turns me off.

 

[Writer61]

The purpose of language is to express thoughts and ideas. For that to be effective, the recipient needs to understand what is being said/written.

There is no point in speaking English to someone who does not understand it.

Similarly, why use a word that some people will not understand?

 

[RocketGrunt]

The purpose of language is to express thoughts and ideas. For that to be effective, the recipient needs to understand what is being said/written.

There is no point in speaking English to someone who does not understand it.

Similarly, why use a word that some people will not understand?

 

[TheLobster]

I hate the word 'ground'. To me, it feels like turning something into dust. E.g. ground coffee...When I read Debbie ground her clit, I imagine her putting it in a mortar and pestle and grinding it. The word often turns me off.

Yup, pretty much. My usual workaround for this is to turn it into a gerund in a longer sentence:

Debbie moaned, grinding her clit into his crotch.

I suppose this is one instance where present tense narrative is superior

 

[ElectricBlue]

I suppose this is one instance where present tense narrative is superior

Except that's past tense. "Debbie moaned..."

Present tense would be: "Debbie moans, grinds her clit into his crotch" - which has a completely different feel to the sentence.

 

[TheLobster]

Except that's past tense. "Debbie moaned..."

Present tense would be: "Debbie moans, grinds her clit into his crotch" - which has a completely different feel to the sentence.

The present tense doesn’t have this problem, is what I meant, and you don’t need gerund tricks. You can just say “Debbie grinds her clit.”

 

[nice90sguy]

Last time this question came up, I was tempted to comment, but I mound my own business

 

[TheArsonist]

"Grinded" is straight up wrong, but "ground" can be awkward, especially when used intransitively. (In the gaming sense you can say "I've been grinding for five hours," but "Yesterday I ground for five hours" sounds bizarre.)

As others have said, I think it's often best to avoid it altogether, and either find a different verb or rewrite as a gerund.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

New challenge: Newspeak erotica!

I'd have to reread Nineteen Eighty-Four (as Mr. Blair styled it) again.

I am very glad I've read the book twice. I have no desire to depress myself by reading it again.

 

[StillStunned]

I'd have to reread Nineteen Eighty-Four (as Mr. Blair styled it) again.

I am very glad I've read the book twice. I have no desire to depress myself by reading it again.

The only reason why it came to mind was because I was listening to the audiobook yesterday, and specifically the bit about Newspeak. The bit with Syme describing how eliminating words will eliminate thoughts until all that remains is "orthodox" is particularly scary in this day and age.

 

[Purechicanery]

'Ground' is correct and it also sounds goofy as fuck and I usually try to find ways to avoid using it.