amuck/amock

pash · Nov 24, 2006

Should that be running amock?

"Lawsuit Insanity Running Amuck and Running America Into the Ground"

Sandi LeFaucheur · Nov 24, 2006

It can be amuck or amok, but not amock.

pash · Nov 24, 2006

Sandi LeFaucheur said:
It can be amuck or amok, but not amock.

Thanks. Strange that the "c" should be excluded in the "o" version.

Marlys · Nov 24, 2006

pash said:
Thanks. Strange that the "c" should be excluded in the "o" version.

It's not excluded exactly--the word is "amok," from the Malay "amoq." Once it had been borrowed into English, it sometimes got confused with "muck," so people would talk about "running a-muck." That's why "amock" doesn't figure in, but "amuck" is still found as a variant spelling.

Dictionaries are wonderful things...

veronie · Nov 24, 2006

Yes, amok is the preferred use.

Brickie · Dec 20, 2006

I don't think I've ever heard "amuck". Probably if I did, I'd assume the speaker/writer had made a mistake.

amuck/amock

pash

Sandi LeFaucheur

pash

Marlys

Resist. Love. Go outside.

veronie

practical experience, FTW

Brickie

just ... don't ask