{"id":14717,"date":"2009-05-05T23:34:12","date_gmt":"2009-05-06T05:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=14717"},"modified":"2009-05-05T23:34:16","modified_gmt":"2009-05-06T05:34:16","slug":"wail-whale-wale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/05\/05\/wail-whale-wale.html","title":{"rendered":"Wail, Whale, Wale"},"content":{"rendered":"

As in, “to [WORD] upon someone.” Which is correct?<\/p>\n

Well, wail<\/em> is almost certainly wrong.<\/p>\n

Is it whale?<\/em> <\/p>\n

One high-ranking site<\/a> says yes.<\/p>\n

\n

One informal meaning of \u201cwhale\u201d is \u201cto beat.\u201d Huck Finn says of Pap that \u201cHe used to always whale me when he was sober.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the vocalist in a band may wail a song, the drummer whales<\/i> on the drums; and lead guitarists when they thrash their instruments wildly whale<\/i> on them.<\/p>\n

Although this usage dates back to the 18th<\/sup> century and used to be common in Britain and America, it is now confined mostly to the U.S., and even there people often mistakenly use \u201cwail\u201d for this meaning.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But wait — wale<\/em> also seems possible<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

wale<\/strong> (w\u0101l)
n.<\/i> A mark raised on the skin, as by a whip; a weal or welt.
v.<\/i> waled<\/font><\/b>, wal\u00b7ing<\/font><\/b>, wales<\/font><\/b> To raise marks on the skin, as by whipping.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On the other hand<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

whale<\/strong>2 [hweyl, weyl]
\u2013verb, whaled, whal?ing, to hit, thrash, or beat soundly.
Origin:1780\u201390; orig. uncert.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And yet<\/a>:<\/p>\n

to wale<\/b> (third-person singular simple present<\/i> wales<\/a><\/b><\/span>, present participle<\/i> waling<\/a><\/b><\/span>, simple past and past participle<\/i> waled<\/a><\/b><\/span>)<\/span> <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. To strike<\/a> the skin<\/a> in such a way as to produce a wale<\/strong>.\n