Etymology of "wacko"

[Wilson Gray]

On 1/15/06, Dennis R. Preston <preston at msu.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Etymology of "wacko"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
>
>

dInIs, I feel your pain, to coin a phrase.

-Wilson


>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
> East Lansing, MI 48824-1036 USA
> Office: (517) 353-4736
> Fax: (517) 353-3755
>