Tonight I was writing an email to a colleague whom I hadn't heard from in years, and I was catching him up on my life (much more boring than his, I found!). Anyway, I was telling him about being in Vienna two years ago with my daughter and how she sightsaw (?) while I was at the conference. Well, I changed the sentence to "did some sightseeing" because I couldn't imagine that it was really a word. Is it?

Why not! It is now!

I think the past tense is sightseen, as in "You sightsaw yet?"
"Yes, I'bin sightseen.."

I don't see why not. It works with babysit, and it's the same kind of compound noun plus verb. The AHD lists sightsaw as the form for the past tense (link). I'd probably say, I saw the sights, but that's simply me. It may sound funny because sight seems to have something to do with the verb see.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

Perhaps the reason that sightsaw sounds weird is because the verb sightsee is a backformation from the noun sightseeing. Verbs derived from nouns tend to be regular, as in fly out, breakfast, grandstand, the past tenses of which are flied out, breakfasted, grandstanded not *flew out, *brokefast, *grandstood. But then you have greenlight... both greenlighted and greenlit sound ok to me. I don't know about babysit.

Brokefast sounds absolutely sensible to me.

Brokefast sounds absolutely sensible to me.

Welcome to the light side: one of us, one of us ... But, seriously, breakfasted sounds better to me, but I will defend your linguistic right, Asa.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

My reasoning is that if one breaks his fast in the present, he broke his fast in the past, ergo, he broke-fast.

How about repast? Sounds like something you ate and eliminated and now are enjoying for the second time.