wreak/wreck

[Charles Doyle]

Young children often etymologize "tyrannosaurus rex" as "dinosaur that wrecks things"; they do so independently, so it isn't technically a "folk" etymology.

"Wreck" and "wreak," however, are practically the same word, historically--perhaps differentiated (in pronunciation and spelling), long ago, in parallel with the noun/verb distinction?

--Charlie
_________________________________________


---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 06:09:54 -0400
>From: Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
>Subject: Re: wreak/wreck
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>On 8/29/06, Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at ohio.edu> wrote:
>>
>> I've heard "wreck havoc" twice on the news in the last couple of days (with ref. to hurricanes).  Is this common?
>
>http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/english/164/wreck/
>
>Perhaps this is an especially common substitution in the context of hurricanes and other natural disasters that wreck things.
>
>--Ben Zimmer

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