At what point did it become cool to drop the “-ed” from certain adjectives?
- “He’s so chill” – instead of “chilled”
- “I’m so tan” – instead of “tanned”
- “I’m bias” – instead of “biased”
- “Pack lunch” – instead of “packed”
Curiously, it only seems to apply to certain words – for example, I’ve never heard anyone say “I’m so relax” instead of “I’m so relaxed”.
Describing a person as “bias” clearly doesn’t make sense. Someone can be “biased”, but they cannot be “bias”.
There appears to be little discussion about this phenomenon online, although I did find this statement from the online dictionary Merriam-Webster:
“Bias vs. Biased
In recent years, we have seen more evidence of the adjectival bias in constructions like “a bias news program” instead of the more usual “a biased news program.” The reason is likely because of aural confusion: the -ed of biased may be filtered out by hearers, which means that bias and biased can sound similar in the context of normal speech. They are not interchangeable, however. The adjective that means “exhibited or characterized by an unreasoned judgment” is biased (“a biased news story”). There is an adjective bias, but it means “diagonal” and is used only of fabrics (“a bias cut across the fabric”).”
Of course, in the grand scheme of things I know this isn’t a particularly big deal. Languages are not rigid and they will naturally evolve over time, including forms of slang.
But I’m just curious to know how this trend began – and where will it lead?
Will we start to be “surprise” by things instead of “surprised”?
I’d love to hear your thoughts!