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. However, as is so often the case, we find that the advice most worth repeating is that found in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage: 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.” Some other usage guides provide a way of dealing with this question that has a certain brutal charm: just stop using the word wrack. ![]() Ned Halley, The Wordsworth Dictionary of Modern English, 2005 So it's "rack and ruin," … "racking my brains," and so on. The spelling 'rack' is now used in all senses except for the seaweed called wrack. Kenneth George Wilson, The Columbia Guide to Standard American English, 1993 wrack and ruin, storm-wracked, and pain-wracked, but other Standard written evidence, including some Edited English, will use the variant spelling for each. 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. 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 advice on these matters. 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). 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. Crain, Jr., The Salesman, Aug., 1926 Contradictory Rules I wracked my brain, but I could not think of a sale we had ever made to him. 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. 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. 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. ![]() 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. 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. 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. When employing one of them as a noun you are almost certainly looking for rack. ![]() Rack and wrack are often confused, and there are some ways in which one may easily distinguish between the two words. Ironicaly, John had a song of his own waiting for Ringo called "Nobody Told Me".Though 'rack' and 'wrack' come from different sources, treating them as variants of the same word may be the most sensible approach. This was recorded a few weeks before John's death. Ringo felt he had already covered the same ground in "I'm The Greatest" so he asked George if he had another song, and George dug this out.
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