Reck

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Dr. Goodword
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Reck

Postby Dr. Goodword » Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:21 pm

• reck •

Pronunciation: rek • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, Verb

Meaning: 1. (Noun) Care, heed. 2. (Verb) To care (about), to heed, to be concerned (about).

Notes: Be careful not to write a W at the beginning of this word. 'She recked her car' means she cared about her car; 'She wrecked her car' means something quite different. Of course, the confusion of these two words probably resulted in the disuse of reck today. It is found only in reckless in the usual English vocabulary. There is no reckful, although it does seem logical; we are allowed heedful.

In Play: We all have had call for an expression which implies less recklessness than reckless. Here it is: "Fairleigh Lowe took little reck of the effect of his actions on Blanche Dwight." It can be used as a near synonym of reckon: "After the argument with Fairleigh, Blanche left the house and wandered about for hours, recking little on where she was going."

Word History: The root of reck comes from PIE reg- "direct straight, lead, rule", which arrived in English also as right and reckon, first cousin of reck. We discussed this PIE root in connection with the Good Word resurge. Its form and meaning have spread widely in the past 7-8000 years. We see it in regal, referring to a ruler; in fact, ruler itself is a reduction of Latin regula "a straight stick". Of course, English borrowed regular from the adjective to this word, regularis. An authentic English word that derives from this root is rice "powerful". French borrowed this word and turned it into riche "rich", which English borrowed back as rich. (Now we must reck to thank David Green for asking the question, 'Is there a reckful?', the search for which led to today's very Good Word.)
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LukeJavan8
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Re: Reck

Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:02 pm

I reckon it's a good word, another I've never run into.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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bamaboy56
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Re: Reck

Postby bamaboy56 » Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:13 pm

This word reminds me of a conversation I had with my wife just yesterday. We were passing an old delapidated building and she commented it was a shame it had been allowed to get to that state. I stated, "Yes, they need to RAZE it." She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "No, they don't need to RAISE it. They need to tear it down!" I said, "That's what I said. They need to RAZE it and build another." We went back and forth for a little while and she still thinks I'm crazy. Oh, well. Can't wait to see her reaction when I tell her how much I reck her! It may just wreck her to the point I may need to call a wrecker.
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I'm going to change myself. -- Rumi

Perry Lassiter
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Re: Reck

Postby Perry Lassiter » Wed Oct 22, 2014 9:21 pm

Raze and raise are interesting homophones.

Another question: why is wreckless the opposite of wreck less, as in having fewer wrecks. And would a reckless person be one who hasn't a clue?
pl

LukeJavan8
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Re: Reck

Postby LukeJavan8 » Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:56 am

bamaboy you're about to get a spatula against the
side of your head, then you'll be the one wrecked.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----


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