possibly this is just recency phenomenon in which case it's still just as annoying*

[cimorene]

Is it just me or is "was sat" erroneously occurring in non-British fanfic narration on the rise over time?

*that is to say, very annoying, but not as annoying as "whilst"

Comments

[stranger]

Have seen this (reading in the U.S.) only in specifically British contexts. Fandom being what it is, I wouldn't be astonished if the usage has spread beyond its source. Languages seem to slop about the internet a lot faster than by printed word, and things get re-used or repurposed.

[cimorene]

No, I mean, it's Brits exclusively who use it pretty much, but they don't realize this and they put it in their writing about North American characters.

[stranger]

Aha. I've read it only in Brit-authored, Brit-setting fanfic, and it seemed very much a British-only expression when I started seeing it in 2000 or so. Oh, so it's the British writers using in, say, American contexts like an Ohio graduating class "being sat in their chairs" or something. That's jarring, right.

Do you read it as a class marker? Somehow it doesn't seem to be in (British-authored) stories about Oxford-educated spies in St. James Park, but does show up in narratives about East Enders and the like. I'm not sure about this aspect, however.