grammar!

[Annie Wagner]

This was posted in the I Anonymous forum, but it more correctly pertains to this week's issue:

Damn you! It's "wrought!"
In reading Last Days this week, I passed by two instances of the word "wreaked". This is not the proper use of this work. "Reeked", as in something that once emitted a horrid stench, is the actual way this word is supposed to be used. You see, they are homophones -- and no, I don't mean that they are gay guys who have phone sex -- two words that sound the same, but are spelled differently, and have completely different meanings. In fact, I hardly thing that “wreaked” is a word at all, and the proper word for the past tense of “wreak” is wrought. Words mean things, people, and if you work at a news paper, (yes, even the Stranger), you need to realize the difference between real words, and words that stupid lazy people make up and some how are injected into the language. I’m so sick of people thinking they can get away with this bullshit. It’s just like the “milleniums” garbage! It’s not “milleniums”! It’s MILLENIA! Yes, I know I’m the only person that cares about these things, but I do care about these things and people employed by “Seattle’s only newspaper” should be able to use the English language.

[Gomezticator]

Annie, you do realize that half of America, and half the people who read your fine publication, are functionally illiterate. Don't you?

[Rain Monkey]

Proof your own.

[Frigidity]

People who wish to complain about grammar really should look things up before doing so.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=wreak

[happyjill]

This is not the proper use of this work .


Hmmm, I suppose you might have meant to use work, instead of word. Have to guess at the meaning though.

Gotta think about that one.

[David Schmader]

In case this hasn't been made abundantly clear by the preceding posts, the instigating email, claiming my use of wreaked was wrong, is <b>wrong</b>.

From the American Heritage Dictionary (where <i>wreak</i> gets its own Usage Note): "The past tense and part participle of <i>wreak</i> is <i>wreaked</i>, not <i>wrought</i>, which is an alternative past tense and past participle of <i>work</i>."

And so the popular past-tense usage of "wrought" for "wreaked" is revealed as one of those common mis-usages, like, uh, "milleniums."

[happyjill]

wreaked, wrought


Brian Tung wrote:
Wreak, it seems, is only used with a couple of things you wreak, like "havoc" or "vengeance." What else can you wreak, and have people previously wreaked other things that they no longer do? Along the same lines, what's the past participle of wreak? Wrought?

Wreak means 'to inflict or cause'. The most common thing one can wreak is havoc, though one can also wreak most of havoc's dire synonyms: great destruction, devastation, harm, ruin, evil, damage, disorder, or confusion. (The word havoc, from Old French havot, was originally a command for invading soldiers to start pillaging. Shakespeare used it in Julius Caesar: "Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war.") Though havoc is usually dire, it is not always so, as shown by a recent New York Times headline: "High Gas Prices Wreak Havoc in the Land of the Car." Less commonly, one can wreak vengeance, justice, or punishment, as colorfully put by the 19th-century writer George Meredith: "The woeful retribution Nature wreaked upon a life of indulgence."

Wreak also means 'to give vent or expression to'. One can wreak rage, hatred, malice, or most any strong emotion. With less serious effect, ill-humor can be wreaked on one's family after a hard day at work.

The past tense and past participle of wreak is always wreaked: "The eruption of Mount Usu has wreaked havoc in Japan." However, wreak/wreaked is sometimes replaced by another verb work/worked: "The volcanic eruption has worked havoc." Occasionally, the archaic past tense of work is used: "The volcanic eruption has wrought havoc." So wrought is not an incorrect substitute for wreaked, but rather an archaic variant of worked. In this particular use, the verb work means 'to bring about or cause'. This meaning is similar to that of wreak, and like wreak, the reference often concerns damage or destruction. Or just as often, a good night's sleep can work miracles, or change can be wrought by computer technology.

Carol

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20000404

[Zac]

And millennium/millennia are spelled with two n's.

[Annie Wagner]

Oh, and in case it hasn't been made abundantly clear, I did not write that I Anonymous. I am a grammar freak, but I am not flagrantly misinformed.

[Molotov]

I am a grammar freak, but I am not certain how informed I am. I get away with it because I never proof anyone else's grammar and I write my college papers in a terribly tortured, academic prose, completely inpenetrable.