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haywire: msg#00008

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: haywire

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The Word of the Day for July 9 is:

haywire \HAY-wyre\ adverb or adjective
*1 : being out of order or having gone wrong
2 : emotionally or mentally upset or out of control

Example sentence:
The TV goes haywire every time we use the blender.

Did you know?
The wire used in bailing hay -- haywire -- is often used in
makeshift repairs. This hurried and temporary use of haywire
gave rise to the adjective "haywire." When the adjective was
first used in the early 20th century, it was primarily in the
phrase "haywire outfit," which denoted originally a poorly
equipped group of loggers and then anything that was flimsy or
patched together. This led to a "hastily patched-up" sense,
which, in turn, gave us the more commonly used meaning, "being
out of order or having gone wrong." The "crazy" sense
of "haywire" may have been suggested by the difficulty of
handling the springy wire, its tendency to get tangled around
legs, or the disorderly appearance of the temporary repair jobs
for which it was used.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.






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