american english - What AmE dialect has "et" as the past tense of "eat"?


In several books and TV shows, there have been characters who say "et" instead of "ate" (As in, "I et dinner yesterday at 6:00"). I looked it up on Wiktionary, which defines it but doesn't say where it's used:



et


(colloquial or dialectal) simple past tense and past participle of eat



I live in the Midwest and I've never heard anyone say this in real life. Is there a specific dialect of American English that this is common to?



Answer



From Dictionary.com:



et


Chiefly North Atlantic, South Midland and Southern US Nonstandard


A simple past tense of "eat".



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