“Wreck,” “Wreak,” and Other [rek] Words
I saw this in an article about caring for a laptop:
If you store your laptop in the vehicle for any period of time, keep in mind that the extreme temperature ranges within the vehicle could wreck havoc with your laptop.
It’s not the first time I’ve seen the word “wreck” substituted for “wreak” in the expression “wreak havoc.”
Both words have similar origins, but in modern usage they are pronounced differently and have different meanings.
wreak [reek] v. to bring about, inflict, as in wreak havoc, wreak vengeance
wreck [reck] v. to cause ruin or damage
wreck [reck] n. something that has been ruined
The Old English verb wrecan meant “to drive, drive out, avenge.” Old Norse had a similar word. In Anglo-French these words evolved into a noun, wrec meaning “goods cast ashore after a shipwreck, flotsam.”
The word reckless has a different origin. The Old English word reccan (past tense rohte) meant “to care, to trouble about, heed.” From it came a noun, rece meaning “care.” A reckless person doesn’t care what happens.
The word reckon comes from another OE verb spelled reccan (past tense reahte). This one meant “to expound, relate.” One still talks about “reckoning accounts,” or, in a metaphorical sense, “the Final Reckoning.”
“I reckon” is a dialect expression for “I guess, I suppose.”
Then there’s reek.
reek [reek] n. a bad smell
reek [reek] v. to emit a bad smell
The Old English word rec meant “smoke from burning material.” Reek acquired the sense of “stench” in the 17th century.
So, back to the words that inspired this article: the next time you want to wreak havoc, don’t wreck your credibility by misspelling or mispronouncing wreak.
Maeve on March 27, 2008 
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I don’t really see the difference?
Tarah, you don’t see a difference between wreak and wreck?
You can wreck a house, but you can’t wreak it. You could wreak destruction upon it though.
Wreck stands on its own, while wreak needs a complement.
Maeve please bring us the light if my explanation is lacking
.
I can’t improve on Daniel’s added explanation.
Except maybe to repeat that the two words are spelled and pronounced differently.
GC,
Thanks for your kind words.
I just checked out your blog. I wish I could write in French as well as you do in English.
I was astounded to learn about the scarcity of milk in some countries. It seems to me that our papers should be carrying stories about it. It’s very disturbing.
Wreak Havoc! I worked for a newspaper editor in the early 80s who announced to all reporters and sub-editors, that he would immediately fire the first person who wrote “wreak havoc” in any news story. We had a lot of fun occasionally calling back and forth to each other, asking “what’s another way to ‘wreak havoc?’”
This same editor warned me on my first day to never fill up space with “bright sunshine,” which he said was abbreviated “B.S.”
Thanks so much for including ‘I reckon’!
Both of my parent are from the South, but I live in the North (of America), so a lot of my friends just consider it a ’southern’ phrase. It’s actually in the Bible, though. If you care to look.
This post is reekless. No typo.
Is the phrase “rack and ruin” (not sure if that first word is spelled properly) closely related to “wreck”? I am not sure how to search for it. I’ve heard it spoken but have never encountered it in a book, so far as I can recall. I love this mailing list and have used the explanation of “will” vs. “shall” in my Taiwanese students’ college English writing class. Most of them had NEVER been introduced to “shall” at all in their seven or more years of English classes!
Thanks a dozen.
Chris,
I’m glad the article on “shall” and “will” proved of use.
Your question about “rack and ruin” deserves an article of its own and I’ll get right onto it. Meanwhile, I’ll tell you that it is “wrack and ruin” and the word is related to “wreck.”
Cheers
No, I’m afraid I’m still clueless. Oy, this is frustrating. Although, I do think I’m starting to see a tiny glimmer of understanding shining though.
Please could someone explain when to use start and when to use begin instead?