wreak havoc

The recent storms brought up the phrase wreck havoc. This is a case of an unfamiliar word, wreak, being replaced by a familiar word, wreck, which seems to make sense because it is in the semantic ballpark of the concept of destruction.

The verb wreak is a Germanic word which appears in Old English.  One of its meanings was to punish or chastise (a person) or to inflict pain on a person to get revenge.   To wreak havoc was to cause destruction as a form of vengeance.

 The notion of vengeance has dropped away. Indeed all we are left with from a whole set of obsolete meanings is the phrase wreak havoc which we rarely pause to analyse. 

 The reworked phrase wreck havoc seems tempting but on close inspection it doesn’t make sense at all.  There wouldn’t be any havoc left if you managed to work out how to wreck it.