2020-12-15
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด R – rack & wrack
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Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง rack & wrack = “RAK”
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree
rack
= framework; spread out; torture:
they put the prisoner on the rack
Not to be confused with:
wrack = damage or destruction:
wrack and ruin
Farlex Trivia Dictionary
Rack & pinion
= Rack is the linear gear and
pinion is the circular gear in a mechanism.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms.
Rack
a rush or shock.
Examples: rack
of clouds (thin-flying, brokenclouds), 1626;
of water (a sudden rush), 1513.
BRITISH DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS FOR WRACK
USAGE FOR WRACK
The use of the spelling wrack rather than rack in sentences
such as she was wracked by grief or the country was wracked by civil war
is very common but is thought by many people to be incorrect
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for rack
Verb
AFFLICT, TRY, TORMENT, TORTURE, RACK
mean to inflict on a person something that is hard to bear.
AFFLICT is a general term and applies to the
causing of pain or suffering orof acute annoyance, embarrassment,
or any distress.
ills that afflict the elderly
TRY suggests imposing something that strains the powers of endurance
or of self-control.
children often try their parents' patience
TORMENT suggests persecution or the repeated inflicting of suffering or annoyance. a horse tormented by flies
TORTURE adds the implication of causing unbearable pain or suffering.
tortured by a sense of guilt
RACK stresses straining or wrenching. a body racked by pain
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Frequently Asked Questions About rack& wrack
Do you rack or wrack your brain?
Wrack and rack are etymologically distinct,
meaning they come from different words.
Many usage guides will advise that you should use
wrack for meanings such as"to utterly ruin,"
and
rack for "to cause to suffertorture, pain, anguish, or ruin."
If you follow this advice,
the proper choice for what you do to your brain
when thinking very hard is rack.
However, wrack has long been used as a variant of rack,
and numerous fine writers have avowedly
wracked their brains or found something nerve-wracking.
Is it racked or wracked with pain?
Some guides feel that "racked with pain" is the preferable choice,
although wrack is in many cases an acceptable variant.
The verbs are often conflated despite their very different origins
(the former from Middle Dutch rekken, meaning "to stretch,"
and the latter from the Middle English word for shipwreck, wrak).
"Do you rack up or wrack up debts?"
While there are a number of settings
in which wrack is considered an acceptable variant of rack,
the accumulation of debts is not one of them.
In this context rack up typically means "to achieve, score; to accumulate."
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
Rack vs. Wrack
Choosing which one to use can be nerve-racking
What to Know
While the nouns rack and wrack have very different origins,
the former from Middle Dutch rekken meaning "to stretch" and
the latter from the Middle English word for shipwreck wrak,
the verb forms are often conflated,
especially in the phrase "to rack/wrack one's brain."
Merriam-Webster supports that either usage is fine,
but if you want to be extra careful,
keep wrack for boat- and storm-related imagery.
Quick question:
do you "rack your brain" or do you "wrack your brain"?
Or is your brain sufficiently wrecked
by this point that you do not distinguishbetween them at all?
There is no simple and easy answer
to which word you should use in this setting,
but we may provide you with some form of guidance.
Though 'rack' and 'wrack' come from different sources,
treating them as variants of the same word
may be the most sensible approach.
Rack and wrack are often confused,
and there are some ways in which one may easily distinguish
between the two words.
When employing one of them as a noun
you are almost certainly looking for rack.
You hang your clothes on a rack, eat a rack of lamb,
and, if you are a medieval torture enthusiast,
attach someone to a rack to be stretched
until bones are broken or joints dislocated.
You should use the noun wrack
for those happy moments in your life
when you need to refer to a wrecked ship
or some form of marine vegetation.
Origins of Rack vs Wrack
So why the confusion?
Well, the verb forms of these two words are often muddled,
and here there is no easy way of distinguishing between them.
The two words did come from different sources
—rack is thought to be from the Middle Dutch word recken,
meaning “to stretch,”
and wrack comes from the Middle English word for a shipwreck, wrak
—and do retain different meanings.
However, wrack has so often been used as a variant spelling of rack,
especially
when used in the phrases “(w)rack one’s brain”
and “(w)racked with pain,”
that many dictionaries now list it as a variant.
I racked my brain and summoned up all the faces that I could remember, but nowhere could I locate this man with the red hat. —L. Black & R. Lynd, Horlick’s Magazine, 1904
I wracked my brain, but I could not think of a sale we had ever made to him. —C. D. Crain, Jr., The Salesman, Aug., 1926
Contradictory Rules
Some guides have expressed the opinion that
since the verb rack comes from an instrument that stretches people
(not in a fun way),
this word should be used in settings
which are related to strain, torture, and stress.
And since wrack comes from a background of nautical destruction,
this word should be used to indicate either wreckage
(storm-wracked) or destruction (wrack and ruin).
One problem with this is that
oftentimes we find that not only will ordinary users of the language
vary in terms of which variant they use,
but usage guides will offer contradictory adviceon these matters.
The two works below were published just over a decade apart from each other, and have markedly different opinions on what is considered to be the correct spelling for (w)rack and ruin.
Most Edited English will prefer ... wrack and ruin, storm-wracked, and pain-wracked, but other Standard written evidence, including some Edited English, will use the variant spelling for each. —Kenneth George Wilson, The Columbia Guide to Standard American English, 1993
The spelling 'rack' is now used in all senses except for the seaweed called wrack. So it's "rack and ruin," … "racking my brains," and so on. —Ned Halley, The Wordsworth Dictionary of Modern English, 2005
Some other usage guides provide a way of dealing with this question
that has a certain brutal charm:
just stop using the word wrack.
This is the method that is advocated by The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, which points out that wrack is archaic, and then informs the reader that they should simply “substitute a modern synonym.”
However, as is so often the case,
we find that the advice most worth repeatingis
that found in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage:
Probably the most sensible attitude would be to ignore the etymologies of rack and wrack
(which, of course, is exactly what most people do)
and regard them simply as spelling variants of one word.
If you choose to toe the line drawn by the commentators,
however, you will want to write
nerve-racking, rack one’s brains, storm-wracked,
and for good measure wrack and ruin.
Then you will have nothing to worry about being criticized for
—except, of course, for using too many clichés.
Common Errors In English Usage Dictionary
rack & wrack
If you are racked with pain or you feelnerve-racked,
you are feeling as if you were being stretched on
that Medieval instrument of torture, the rack.
You rack your brains when you stretch them vigorously
to search out the truth like a torturer.
“Wrack” has to do with ruinous accidents,
so if the stock market is wracked by rumors of imminent recession,
it’s wrecked.
