| 词组 | wreak, wreck |
| 释义 | wreak, wreck Havoc is usually said to be wreaked: • Nor is this feisty crew beyond wreaking havoc among themselves —James Atlas, N. Y. Times Book Rev., 13 Sept. 1981 But it is sometimes said to be wrecked: • ... the isolationists wrecked their havoc by boldly asserting that economic and military assistance were two entirely different and separate things —New Republic, 10 Sept. 1951 Wreak havoc is the original expression and is regarded by many people as the only correct one. Those same people regard \\\\'rēk\\\\ as the only correct pronunciation of wreak, but \\\\'rek\\\\ also occurs as a secondary variant (of course, it is not always possible to determine whether the person saying \\\\'rek\\\\ would write wreak or wreck). The meaning of the word in this context is "to bring about; cause." Several factors contribute to the tendency to substitute wreck for wreak: the fact that wreak is an unfamiliar word in general, whereas wreck is quite common; the fact that when havoc is wreaked, the result may be a wreck, so the verb wreck appears to go natually with havoc; and, perhaps, the fact that wreak \\\\'rēk\\\\ is a homophone for the common verb reek means that for some people the phrase wreak havoc smells a little fishy. Other verbs are also used with havoc, of course; they include create, play, raise, and, occasionally, work: • One agency in particular which is working havoc in the minds of many —Lounsbury 1908 • ... had begun to work havoc in the orthodox communities of Connecticut —Lois Bailey Wills, New-England Galaxy, Winter 1965 In the past tense, work havoc becomes either worked havoc or, more commonly, wrought havoc: • ... had worked havoc with his sea communications —John Buchan, Augustus, 1937 • ... the havoc that was wrought by the war of 1914 —W. Bridges-Adams, The British Theatre, rev. ed., 1946 • ... they wrought havoc during the hours in between —Grace Metalious, Peyton Place, 1956 Usage commentators, who seem to be unfamiliar with the work havoc variant, regard wrought simply as an erroneous substitute for wreaked, and they issue stern warnings against its use. It is not an error, but you may want to take the fact that some people mistakenly think that it is into account in deciding whether or not to use it. If these various points of contention have you feeling overwrought, you can avoid the whole issue by calling wreak havoc a cliché and dismissing it contemptuously from your vocabulary. You are well advised, in any case, to steer clear of wreck havoc. |
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