Talk:nervous wreck

nervous wreck
I can see someone saying this is too transparent. Present in dictionary.reference.com, oxforddictionaries.com, and Collins. I am inclide to have us have this entry. --Dan Polansky (talk) 18:15, 26 September 2014 (UTC)
 * I'm a bit confused as to why you nommed it for deletion if you are inclined to keep it. Anywho, keep owing to presence in respected dictionaries. Pur ple back pack 89   20:11, 26 September 2014 (UTC)
 * It might well be a strategic nomination that established some agreed practices to improve our decision-making or for other purposes.
 * The expression is a transparent use of senses of nervous and wreck. Even if one were not explicitly aware of those senses, the metaphorical use of wreck is obvious. But I defer to the lexicographers at Oxford, Collins, and AHIdioms. Keep DCDuring TALK 21:48, 26 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep as a set phrase; vastly more common than theoretical equivalents like "anxious wreck". bd2412 T 22:45, 26 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Keep per BD2312's set phrase argument and inclusion in reliable dictionaries. -Cloudcuckoolander (talk) 01:51, 27 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep? basically per BD. I don't think anyone parses this as "a particular wreck that happens to be a nervous one". Equinox ◑ 00:23, 28 September 2014 (UTC)
 * We have a definition and usex at [[wreck]]:
 * "Something or someone that has been ruined.
 * He was an emotional wreck after the death of his wife.
 * MW has "something disabled or in a state of ruin or dilapidation, ; also: a person or animal of broken constitution, health, or spirits "
 * I'm just saying.
 * As always the entry at [[wreck]] (noun) needs work. We have 3 definitions, MW has 7. DCDuring TALK 01:08, 28 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Am I alone in thinking that "nervous wreck" means "someone whose nerves have been wrecked" rather than "someone who is a wreck and is also nervous"? Equinox ◑ 01:15, 28 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Don't know. I read it as "wreck of the nervous variety". DCDuring TALK 02:03, 28 September 2014 (UTC)
 * You're not alone- that's how I read it. I would say it parallels "emotional wreck", mentioned above, which definitely doesn't mean "a wreck who's emotional". Chuck Entz (talk) 02:24, 28 September 2014 (UTC)
 * . It's not only the morphology; it's a definition. DCDuring TALK 13:41, 28 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Hmmm. Yeah. Reduced my keep-vote to hesitant italics. DC knows where it's at. Equinox ◑ 02:07, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
 * If we go with the theory that "nervous wreck" means a wreck "relating to or affecting the nerves", which sense of "nerve" are we saying that this relates to? Bundles of neurons? bd2412 T 14:19, 30 September 2014 (UTC)
 * We lack the plural-only sense to be found in several dictionaries: . DCDuring TALK 14:55, 30 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Still, how do we get specifically from being in a wreck in a sense affecting the nerves to "stressed out"? At least, I gather that there are many reasons why one might be a wreck in a literally "nervous" sense, but why should the phrase only apply to people who are on edge specifically due to the imposition of stress? bd2412 T 17:38, 30 September 2014 (UTC)
 * I don't specifically know that we have a good definition, but that is an RfV question. Two OneLook sources have a definition like ours, two have one that is closer to the etymology. I don't think typical citations would distinguish between the definitions. But there is an implicit ("folk"/"pop") theory that goes from stress to agitation, nervousness. I followed the small number of lemmings and voted keep, even though it seems at best marginal to me. DCDuring TALK 18:29, 30 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep. It's in my Oxford hard copy. Donnanz (talk) 13:07, 30 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Keep, it's not a wreck that's nervous. Relevantly, I think the sense of should be split as wreck in the sense of a person and wreck in the sense of something that's ruined or in disrepair to me aren't the same sense. I might do it myself. Renard Migrant (talk) 14:36, 30 September 2014 (UTC)


 * RFD kept per consensus. --Dan Polansky (talk) 08:48, 4 October 2014 (UTC)