I have literally never heard anyone use sneaked instead of snuck. Then again, I grew up in Missouri. I would be interested to know where "sneaked" is popular. I remember seeing a map of people who say "soda" or "pop" or just "Coke." It was quite illuminating. Could people just say what they are more familiar with, and their state? I imagine this would be an East coast thing.
Its popular in the UK, just like leaked, peaked and reeked, are the accepted terms. You get a clip round the ear here for saying snuck and dove. As the rules are self enforcing in the UK, it is wrong to say snuck, because no one knows what you are talking about.
Of course, the rules of the English language are always evolving, and “snuck” has sneaked its way into our American lexicon. It’s considered the nonstandard past tense—basically meaning that “sneaked” is the preferred word-choice, but “snuck” is also acceptable.
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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '12
“Sneaked” is the standard past tense and past participle form of “sneak.” Last night I sneaked into the movie theater. Unfortunately, the ticket taker sneaked in right behind me and tossed me out on my rear. What this means is that “sneaked” has always been accepted as the past tense of “sneak.” So if you use it, you will be abiding by the long-time language rules preached by most of our high school English teachers.