I've mentioned elsewhere "the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina."

The verb wrought is of couse a past tense. But what in God's name is the present tense of that verb.

Work.

Tinman

Wreak is also appropriate in this case. Wreak suggests malevolence, whereas work does not, but, given the situation, one might ascribe to some big brother of Aeolus a mean streak.

Bring/brought
Teach/taught
Work/wraught

This was a fairly productive rule in Old(?) English.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Seanahan,

So "worked" and "wrought" mean precisely the same? They could be used as synonyms?

I can't wait to tell my boss that I "wrought" yesterday.

Just as long as you weren't overwrought.

Tinman

quote:

So "worked" and "wrought" mean precisely the same? They could be used as synonyms?

They're synonyms in the way that he has and he hath are. One of them is archaic. About the only time you hear wrought is in the compound wrought iron and the phrase what hath God wrought? But sure, Kalleh, knock yerse'f out.

quote:

Originally posted by zmjezhd:

quote:

So "worked" and "wrought" mean precisely the same? They could be used as synonyms?

They're synonyms in the way that he has and he hath are. One of them is archaic. About the only time you hear wrought is in the compound wrought iron and the phrase what hath God wrought? But sure, Kalleh, knock yerse'f out.

We still say (insert pronoun) "wrought havoc" over here to describe vandalism, natural disasters and similar events.

quote:

We still say (insert pronoun) "wrought havoc" over here to describe vandalism, natural disasters and similar events.

I hear it here too. I wonder how many people consider that "dis-aster" literally means that the stars aren't properly aligned? A long holdover from the days pre-science! And a "sense of humour" is another. Hmmm.... This needs a thread of its own!

quote:

We still say (insert pronoun) "wrought havoc" over here to describe vandalism, natural disasters and similar events.

Ah, yes, that, too.

"wrought": 4.1 M ghits
"wrought iron": 1.13 M ghits
"wreak havoc": 667 K ghits
"wrought havoc": 22.5 K ghits
"what hath God wrought": K 16.9 ghits

[Added stats for "wreak havoc".]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

In America, we would say "wreak havoc", not "wrought havoc", although the latter isn't unheard of, even though "work havoc" is never used. It appears that wreak and work come from different sources, at least as far as Old English, where we have wrecan and weorc, although their meanings appear to have converged a bit.

Did some checking, and the only remnants of the rule I can find are:

Bring/Brought
Buy/Sought (Edit: Buy/bought)
Teach/Taught
Fight/Fought
Seek/Sought
Work/Wrought
Think/Thought
Catch/Caught

Obviously these are all very common verbs, which is why the irregular sense stayed around. A couple of other things I came across. Distraught is from distract, but in a round about way, and the meanings are different now. Also, I believe that slaughter comes from the past tense of slay, slaught.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Seanahan,

Sean, you meant "bought," correct?

Yes, I have only heard "wreak havoc." I'd have thought "wrought havoc" to be an eggcorn.

According to the AHD, the past tense of wreak is wreaked, not wrought.

AHD Usage Note:

quote:

Wreak is sometimes confused with wreck, perhaps because the wreaking of damage may leave a wreck: The storm wreaked (not wrecked) havoc along the coast . The past tense and past participle of wreak is wreaked, not wrought, which is an alternative past tense and past participle of work

.
The OED Online agrees. It says (Def. 8 b) wreak is to "cause or effect (harm, damage, etc.), esp. in phr. to wreak havoc. (For wrought havoc see WORK v. 10.)"

Def. 10 says work is to "effect, bring about, bring to pass; to accomplish, achieve; to cause, produce. Esp. in phr. to work havoc, where the pa. tense wrought is common (though it is often interpreted as the pa. tense of wreak: cf. WREAK v. 8b)."

Whereas wreak is always negative, wrought is positive, meaning "worked, shaped, or fashioned." Wrought in combination with an adverb can be negative, though, as in wrought-up: "stirred up; excited or stimulated; enlivened."

So don't get all wrought-up over this.

Tinman

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