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 #2 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 13:19 pm 'go haywire'? |
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Yes, it can.
e.g.
He went haywire when I told him I'd scratched his precious little car. |
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Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
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| #3 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 13:48 pm 'go haywire'? |
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Hi Nessie
Yes, it can be applied to humans too. I'd say the most typical usage would be to indicate that the way something is functioning or behaving is not logical/usual/controled. Haywire behavior is confused and erratic.
| Molly wrote: |
| He went haywire when I told him I'd scratted his precious little car. |
By the way, I don't recommend using the word "scratted" in everyday speech. If you would like to be understood by most people, the word "scratched" would be a much better choice. If you used the word "scratted" in a conversation with someone in my neck of the woods, they'd probably look at you a bit quizzically and assume that your vocabulary and/or pronunciation had gone a little haywire. 
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Yankee
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Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA
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| #4 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 14:14 pm 'go haywire'? |
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I would have said that "scrat" usually implies "scratch with fingernails or claws" (where it doesn't relate to cider-making or speckled paper).
MrP |
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MrPedantic
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Location: Southern England
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| #5 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 16:00 pm 'go haywire'? |
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| Making room for typos happens when a member of one's flock makes them. right? |
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Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
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| #6 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 16:24 pm 'go haywire'? |
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That was a typo, was it? Don't you think that typing a "T" instead of "CH" is a rather unlikely sort of typo?
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Yankee
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Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA
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| #7 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 16:26 pm 'go haywire'? |
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| Yankee wrote: |
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That was a typo, was it? Don't you think that typing a "T" instead of "CH" is a rather unlikely sort of typo?
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Wow, whatever next? Now Amy's gone all prescriptive on typos. Amy, it was a typo. |
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Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
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| #8 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 16:30 pm 'go haywire'? |
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I see.
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Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA
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| #9 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 16:32 pm 'go haywire'? |
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Now. |
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Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
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| Should I say "I'm 24 year old" OR "I'm 24 years old"? | meaning of 'inexorable love' |
Nessie
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..