wreak.
Part A: Inflection “wreak/wreaked/wreaked.” The past tense is not “wrought,” which is the archaic past tense and past participle of “work.”
Part B: Pronunciation. “Wreak” is pronounced /reek/ — not /rek/.
Part C. “Wreak havoc.” The phrase “wreak havoc” (= to bring about difficulty, confusion, or chaos) is the established American English idiom. (In British English, the usual idiom is “play havoc.”) But “wreak havoc” has two variants to be avoided: *”wreck havoc” and *”work havoc.” E.g.:
o “An inner struggle was working [read ‘wreaking’] havoc on Tracey’s normally cheerful demeanor.” Jay McInerney, “Smoke,” Atlantic Monthly, Mar. 1987, at 68.
o “The floods of 1997 have wrecked [read ‘wreaked’] havoc at some Northern and Central California dairies.” Martha Groves, “Farming and Flood,” L.A. Times, 9 Jan. 1997, at D2.
o “During [the character’s] 15 years in the underworld, 113 of the most evil types escape back to earth, wrecking [read ‘wreaking’] havoc at will.” M.S. Mason, “TV Goes Bump in the Night,” Christian Science Monitor, 13 Nov. 1998, at B1.
Language-Change Index — (1) *”wreck havoc” for “wreak havoc”: Stage 1; (2) *”work havoc” for “wreak havoc”: Stage 1.
*Invariably inferior form.
For information about the Language-Change Index click here.
Quotation of the Day: “Polishing at an early stage usually is a waste of time.” George J. Miller, On Legal Style, 43 Ky. L.J. 235, 239 (1955).
