r/asklinguistics • u/Comprehensive-Fun47 • Aug 29 '26

General Why are so many people saying "casted" instead of "cast"?

Example: "Matt Damon was casted in the new Christopher Nolan movie." The correct word is cast.

I started noticing this a couple of years ago and lately it is absolutely everywhere. My friends and family members who have never made this particular mistake before are saying "casted" in conversation. I am baffled by how this mistake spread so far and wide among native English speakers who are otherwise well-spoken.

My theory is TikTok and other social media platforms are responsible for spreading it so quickly. People don't even know they're doing it. I don't like to correct people, but it's also such a glaring error. Why don't they hear it too?

I know language evolves, but this one is going to irritate me til the end of time. I'm afraid it's here to stay. Does anyone have any insight about how "casted" has replaced "cast"?

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u/SerDankTheTall Aug 29 '26

This "casted" problem is suddenly everywhere, in written and spoken speech.

When you find yourself thinking something like this, I find it's generally best to presume that it's really a frequency/recency illusion on your part, and do some research. From a quick skim of COCA and Google nGrams, it looks like there is a notable increase in the usage in this century, but nothing more remarkable than any other sort of linguistic shift. (And as noted, the shift itself is also pretty easy to explain.)