wrangle; wangle.
The two are occasionally confounded. “Wrangle” = to argue noisily or angrily. “Wangle” = (1) v.t., to accomplish or obtain in a clever way; (2) v.t., to manage (a thing) despite difficulties; or (3) v.i., to use indirect methods to accomplish some end. E.g.:
o “He has aptly demonstrated his advertising acumen by wrangling [read ‘wangling’] almost half a million dollars in free print media from New York Magazine.” Letter of David Curry, New York, 23 Jan. 1989, at 9.
o “So, in 1990, he called the Detroit Lions and wrangled [read ‘wangled’] an invitation to camp.” David Wharton, “Climbing Charts Again,” L.A. Times, 9 Aug. 1997, at C10.
Language-Change Index — “wrangle” misused for “wangle”: Stage 1.
For information about the Language-Change Index click here.
Quotation of the Day: “Sometimes the words come freely; sometimes we sit in silence, gnawing on a brush.” Lu Chi, Wen Fu: The Art of Writing 34 (rev. ed., Sam Hamill trans., 1991).
