Etymology of "wacko"

[Dennis R. Preston]

And reveals that the impoverished speakers of English who so derived
it lacked the civilized /hw/ - /w/ distinction. Guess the language
has been on its way to hell in a handbasket for a long time.

dInIs

>At 9:03 AM -0500 1/15/06, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
>>  >
>>Thanks for the explanation. I somehow missed the step that e.g. STINKO is
>>immediately derived from STINKY, not STINK. Still, in that case, how is WACKY
>>derived from WACK? What is a "wack"? Didn't that have something to
>>do with women
>>in the army during WWII?
>
>I don't think "wacky" has much to do with WACs.  The OED cites a
>definition in the 1935 _J of Abnormal Psychology_ of "wacky" as
>'insane' and derives it from "whack", as in "out of ____", which in
>turn is cited in 1885.
>
>larry


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
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Office: (517) 353-4736
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