They clinged to that.

[suprunp]

They clinged to that.
(Nobel Prize Winner Challenges The Myths About Aids; YouTube)

Would you be so kind as to tell me whether I've heard it correctly?

Thanks.

 

[probus]

No. He says "They cling to that." The past tense is not clinged anyway. It is clung.

 

[suprunp]

The past tense is not clinged anyway, it is clung.

I know, but you never know what people can say

 

[Tdol]

He does make the final sound quite long, which is probably why you heard it that way.

 

[probus]

He does make the final sound quite long, which is probably why you heard it that way.

Yes, I too almost felt I heard it, but knowing it was impossible I just ruled it out.

 

[suprunp]

Yes, I too almost felt I heard it, but knowing it was impossible I just ruled it out.

How come it's impossible?

cling > clung > clung
Cling to the strong past forms, despite pitiable shift toward weakening them.
[Several Examples]
(Garner's Modern American Usage)

The tight t-shirt clinged to the muscles in his arms.
(Science-Fiction from the Clothing Department; Rebekah Rodney)

The mud still clinged to Bobby's torso [...]
(Tarnished Halos: Angels in School Clothes; Linda McDonald Davis)

The stinky rotten smell of sewer rats and mouldy food clinged to me [...]
(Flame-Girl; Laura-Louise Slattery)

 

[emsr2d2]

I consider all three examples (and any other) of "clinged" incorrect.

 

[suprunp]

I consider all three examples (and any other) of "clinged" incorrect.

They may be incorrect, but they are definitely not 'impossible', which was the point.

 

[suprunp]

Nothing is 'impossible in language 'I were difacolt when I be yung' is possible - I just wrote it!

I hope there's no 'pitiable shift toward' difacolt becoming a form of difficult, unlike with the strong past forms of cling being slightly weakened.

 

[probus]

Nothing is 'impossible in language 'I were difacolt when I be yung' is possible - I just wrote it! However, I think most people would understand probus's 'impossible' to mean 'not possible within the norms that most people accept for standard English'.

What I meant was this. The OP invited us to listen to the speech of someone who was obviously a native speaker. I considered it impossible that a native speaker could have said clinged. I stand by that.

Sorry the OP seems too dense to get it.

 

[jutfrank]

They liked that so much. Because they said "We can go right ahead and do what we're doing. We just have to do a few little things differently and we'll be okay." They, they cling/clinged to that.

In light of the fact that the narrative is actually set in the past, and that to mark this he has already used the past tense twice in the previous passage, I'm starting to think he could quite possibly have said clinged. In fact, it makes slightly more sense given the context, doesn't it?

 

[jutfrank]

The present-tense form is perfectly reasonable, especially as the next verb the speaker uses is present-tense 'think'. He has switched from how 'they' felt in the past to how they feel now.

Yes, I think that if forced, and without my trusty spectrometer at hand, I would guess that he uses the present-tense cling.

 

[suprunp]

What I meant was this. The OP invited us to listen to the speech of someone who was obviously a native speaker. I considered it impossible that a native speaker could have said clinged. I stand by that.

Sorry the OP seems too dense to get it.

Just as I invited you to have a look at some of the links I provided in this post. But some ostensibly native English speakers seem to be pitiably closed-minded. My abject apologies I was too dense to get it right away.