paid/payed

[john2tzh]

The past tense of paying a bill is paid. Is it the same for paying out a line or is that payed? Just to settle an arguement, thanks.

[Quizmonster]

'Payed' is the norm in the nautical sense.

[Aquagility]

And when you've weighed your anchor, do you get under weigh - or under way? You do, of course, have way on, not weigh on.

[Quizmonster]

'Under weigh' is used but wrong. It is wrong because of the very confusion you refer to, Aqua. That is, it a misassociation.

[jno]

I've seen under weigh in 19th-century writing; I wonder if anything so persistent can really be called an error. But it's seldom around these days anyway - the modern variation is to write underway rather than under way, and while this is still rare enough to be called erroneous I suspect it will be normal in another 20 years. Perhaps people do it by association with anyway, motorway, undertake - I don't know.

[felinechums]

And there's only one 'e' in 'argument'