Talk:forfeit

Past and past participle

"The past and past participle were forfeit before the nineteenth century"

Ummmm. Except, "forfeit" is used as the past and past participle extremely regularly today. A books.google.com search for "it is forfeit" is packed with tons of evidence for this.

— This unsigned comment was added by 108.197.53.167 (talk) at 17:37, 24 November 2013 (UTC).

13 results is not "tons of evidence"! [1] Equinox ◑ 17:45, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

There is also the question of whether the adjective (listed at the bottom of our entry) is more suitable than the verb for "it is forfeit". Equinox ◑ 17:46, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

Are our criteria for inclusion not, three uses spanning at least a year? Even IF we could only find thirteen, if those included three over a year, that would meet the criteria. Forgive me, in my previous remark I meant to refer to "it was forfeit" instead of "it is forfeit", the former has far more hits. As for verb vs. adjective, we can establish evidence for that by searching e.g. "will have forfeit", "he has forfeit", etc. Here are some attestations, quite adequate to meet our official inclusion criteria, and specifically picked within much more recent times than before the nineteenth century.

• Derivatives: Markets, Valuation, and Risk Management, 2007, "...if the call option holder waits until expiration to exercise, he will have forfeit the opportunity to receive the dividend."

• Citizens and Groups in Contemporary China, 1987, "A leader who undergoes such a process of embourgeoisement is no longer a Marxist-Leninist and has forfeit the legitimate support of his constituency."

• Understanding Terror, 2002, "Syria will have forfeit its reliance in Teheran."

• Orion is Upside Down, 2011, "When such a thing becomes routine for me, I fear I will have forfeit a little of my soul."

• Broadcast License Renewal Act: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Communications of the Committee on Commerce, 1970, "...we will have forfeit a campaign begun long ago..."

• Hearings on the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1979, 1980, "...often the decisive factor in determining whether employees will vote for a union, is whether they will have forfeit credits earned..."

• China Law Review, Volume 9, 1936, "...who slew his brother and, under strict jus talionis, must have forfeit his own life..."

• Silence and Tears, 2008, "...many persons as respectable, indeed of a much higher station of life than yours, have forfeit their lives for such an offense."

Now, perhaps there is an argument that "forfeited" is more common, and should somehow be designated as such. But to say that "forfeit" simply isn't used as the past participle of "forfeit" post-nineteenth century is a blatant falsehood! --Language Lover (talk) 18:36, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

As far as I can tell from e.g. this, forfeit did not become less common after 1900 except to the same extent that forfeited did. It's simply that forfeit was always very rare, and forfeited was always more common — at least a thousand times more common, according to that ngram. - -sche (discuss) 18:04, 25 November 2013 (UTC)