This drives me nuts when I see it done wrong, but it’s actually kind of complicated because English is orthographically deranged.
Lead (/liːd/) [verb, present tense]: to guide, etc. I asked them to lead us in a rousing revolutionary anthem.
Led (/led/) [verb, past tense]: as above, but past tense. Later, we were led to a blank concrete wall.
Lead (/led/) [noun]: A soft, poisonous metal. Bullets are most often made of lead.
Just to make it confusing…
Lead (/liːd/) [noun]: kind of like “leader”. Officer Johnson was our lead on this operation. (Note: it also means “leash”; e.g., I clipped the lead to Bowser’s collar.)
Lede (/liːd/) [noun]: The first bit of a news story, often the first sentence. I didn’t read the full article, but the lede suggested the protesters were decimated by police.
Leeds [proper noun]: A Town in England. Leeds is the worst place to stage peaceful protests.
And finally…
LED (ell ee dee) [noun, abbr.]: Abbreviation for light-emitting diode. For the love of any gods you might believe in, fucking capitalize it. Electronics hobbyists I’m looking in your direction.
More Examples
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Wrong: I was lead into the woods by a stranger.
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Right: I was led into the woods by a stranger.
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Wrong: The lead in an ad about cheap bulk led lead me to lede my leed dog to Leides on her led lede.
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Right: The lede in an ad about cheap bulk lead led me to lead my lead dog to Leeds on her LED lead.
(The last example is stupidly confusing, but it was fun to write.)
Very common in UK / Australia but almost never heard in the US (we usually say cables instead).
… but you’re aware that the majority of the world is not in fact in the US.
Common among the electronics hobbyists that OP mentioned as well, leads are what you call the connections to discrete components or IC’s.
Ledes: leads led the lead leads to LEDs in Leeds.
Pronounced:
the leeds: leeds led the led leeds to leds in leeds
Translation:
multiple headlines said he followed his bosses with soft metal wires to connect some energy efficient lights in the worst place to stage a protest.
Don’t forget that “lead” rhymes with “read” and “lead” rhymes with “read”, but “lead” doesn’t rhyme with “read” and “lead” doesn’t rhyme with “read”.
One of my biggest nitpicks is lie vs lay
| Lie | Lay |
|---|---|
| I usually lie on the bed. | Lay down your weapon. |
| Yesterday, I lay on the bed. | He laid his weapon down. |
“lie” has two meanings too…
“But Dave lied when he said he lay on his bed.”
Same word, different meanings, different tenses
Thank you for making the community 100% more literate with this post
Where does this leave Led Zeppelin? Am I guiding said Zeppelin somewhere?
