W/Racked with guilt?

[modernwizard]

If I'm wracked with an emotion, should I be RACKED or WRACKED? If I use "rack," I conjure up the pleasant image of someone's tendons being unscrewed on a Procrustean bed. If I use "wrack," it connotes "wreck" and "wreak," a verb that absolutely must be conjoined with "havoc." [Seriously, what else do you wreak besides havoc? Destruction, maybe, but that's about it.] Both spellings are acceptable and absolutely synonymous, so the choice comes down to a predilection for connotations. I use "wrack" because, when someone is wracked with pain, sobs, a coughing fit, etc., he/she is usually incapacitated, hunched over, deflated and otherwise wrecked. I like the wreckage, not the rackage.

Boy, that silent W in "wracked" looks stupid. I guess I shouldn't look at words like "write," "wriggle," "wrap," "wraith," "wreath," "wrath," etc. They all look RONG! :p

Comments

[melopoeia.livejournal.com]

THE STORM'S WRACK MAY RACK THE BUDGET

To wrack is to severely or completely destroy, a storm-wracked ship. Wrack is also a noun denoting wreckage, the storm's wrack. To rack is to stretch beyond capacity, as in to rack one's brains. (The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition 2003)