If I had $1 for every time I hear “look what that cat drug in”
GRAMMAR GIRL SAYS: First, let me be clear – the correct form of the word is “dragged.” I should have said, “I dragged myself over to the condo.” “Drag” is a regular verb, which means you add “d,” “ed,” or in this case “ged” to make it past tense. “Drag” becomes “dragged.”
“Drug” is Dialect
But it turns out that treating “drag” as an irregular verb and using “drug” as the past tense is common in some parts of America. Linguists call it dialect, which essentially means it’s a language quirk shared by a group of people. Dialect can be shared by any group of people; for example, quirks can be shared by people who live in the same region, were educated by the same system, or inhabit the same social class.
Using “drug” as the past tense of “drag” is a dialect common to people who live in the southern United States, but linguists have noted that it is used frequently in states as far west as Nebraska. Strangely, they don’t say anything about it being used widely in the West, where I’ve lived my whole life, so I can’t explain why I was confused.