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The past tense of "lead" (rhymes with bead) is not also "lead".

When did the word "led" disappear from the English language?

We fixed it in the title above. Don't forget that we're fortunate enough to have a great many non-native English speakers here.

The "native" English speakers are actually some of the worst offenders.

I want to strangle "reporters" who write articles for the NYT, Washington Post, etc. who get this wrong all the time.

It hasn't disappeared (Google Ngram viewer shows a consistent occurrence of "led" since 1800). It's just a common error due to (1) inconsistency with "read" (same spelling for present and past tense) and (2) the noun "lead" being pronounced "led".

TIL: I have consistently mispronounced "lead" (metal) like "lead" (verb) my whole life.

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