John Hall wrote in message ...
:"Sat" is indeed the past participle, but it isn't used in the so-called
:"past imperfect" tense. Thus you could say "I sat" (perfect tense) or "I
:was sitting" (past imperfect tense), but not "I was sat".

I agree that it is not correct standard English but you will often hear it
in the north of England, for instance, and perhaps elsewhere. I believe
Jack is from East Anglia.

: ... My OED also calls "sitting"
:a noun, which surprised me. It's the present particle of the verb "to
:sit", which I would have thought made it a verb.

"Sitting" is the present participle of "sit" - it is therefore a verb form.
There is also a noun "sitting" as in Joe's example: "in one sitting".

Colin Youngs
Brussels