For some reason i can never remember if the proper pronunciation of "wreak" is as in 'wreck' or 'reek', so i finally took the time to look it up today and was surprised to find this usage NB from Atomica:
"USAGE NOTE: 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."
i *know* i've seen 'wrought' used erroneously to indicate the past tense of wreak before, and would've thought it correct myself, as an alternative to 'wreaked'.
Atomica shed light, for me, on the entymology of wrought iron (which is, much to my amusement, almost *always* listed as "rot iron" in the local for-sale ads); wrought iron is simply iron that has been *worked* into decorative patterns.
My question, then, is this: What other usage can be made of the word "wrought"? surely it would not be syntactically correct to say "I wrought three hours on that project", right?
>What other usage can be made of the word "wrought"?
::takes deep breath::
I. †1. a. Created; shaped, moulded. Obs. b. That is made or constructed by means of labour or art; fashioned, formed. Cf. OE. hand-worht, = mod. E. ‘hand-wrought’. c. Shaped, fashioned, or finished from the rough or crude material; cut.
†2. Artificial; specially prepared. Obs.
3. a. Of textile materials, esp. silk: Manufactured; spun. (Cf. raw a. 2a.)
b. Decorated or ornamented, as with needlework; elaborated, embellished, embroidered.
c. Of leather, etc.: Prepared by dressing; dressed.
d. Of articles: Made, manufactured, or prepared for use or commerce.
4. a. Of metals: Beaten out or shaped with the hammer or other tools.
b. wrought iron, slag-bearing malleable iron (see iron n.1 1 and malleable a. 1).
c. Of metal-work: Made by hammering or hand-work (in contrast to cast).
†5. transf. Worked up; rough; agitated. Obs.
6. a. Of coal: Hewn from the bed or seam; won.
b. Dug; moved by digging, etc.
7. Of animals: Employed in labour; worked.
II. With adverbs.
8. wrought-off, worked off; printed.
9. wrought-up, stirred up; excited or stimulated; enlivened.
Dear tsuwm: your mention of costermonger made me think of several articles I saw long ago about there being a large group of London Cockney costermongers who wore shirts very elaborately decorated with hundreds and hundreds of mother-of-pearl buttons.It would be interesting if you could give more details on this.(I hope I am not mistaken.)
I was in Lunnon in 1998 and went dahn Levvuh Layne (Leather Lane) market on my way to spend the day in the Tate Gallery. I bought something at a costermonger's barrow. I was tickled pink to see that she had on-line Visa access. The line went from her stall, under some boxes by the wall of a building before snaking up three stories and through a partly-open window.
I asked her whether stallholders did well during the working week. She replied "I ain't no stallholder, luv, I'm a costermonger." I refrained from asking if that made the dog under her barrow a costermongrel ...
bill, the OED has three-hundred and eighteen (318) entries for 'monger', but the best one, by far, (after costermonger) is: wordmonger - one who deals in words, esp. in strange or pedantic words, or in empty words without sense or substance. Orig. contemptuous.
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