- had
- past tense and past participle of have, from Old English gehæfd. Assimilation of -f- to a following consonant is typical (as also in woman, lord, lady, head (n.), leman). Used since late Old English as an auxiliary to make pluperfect tense-phrases. You never had it so good (1946) was said to be the stock answer to any complaints about U.S. Army life.
