Writing Tip 171: “Wind” vs. “Wend” (and the hijacking of “Went”)
Is this frog wending his way home?
Have you ever wondered why the past tense of “go” is “went”? No? Well, are you at least a little bit curious now that I pose the question?
It all goes back to a word-hijacking centuries ago, when there were two major terms one could use to denote traveling from place to place. One could “go,” or one could “wend.” “Going” was more direct; “wending” was sometimes less so, but I’ll get back to that.
Returning to the confusion between “wind” and “wend”…
Yes, “wend” is a real word, not a typo.
Yes, it is the correct word in the idiom “to wend one’s way.”
Yes, it’s a bit old-fashioned, but it pops up enough that it’s worth a conversation.
Here’s the difference between “wind” vs. “wend”:
“To wend” is to choose a path and then pursue it; it is to go in a specified direction often by an indirect route; it is to move from one place to another.
“To wind” (for the sake of this conversation) is to move in a curving line or path.
A party guest might wend across a crowded room; a detour might wend through lesser-known city streets.
A road might wind down a mountain; stripes might wind around a ball.
The difference is subtle but present. Do you see it? Admittedly, this is one you have to think about. Using “wend” properly is not for the grammatically faint of heart.
And what about that past tense of “go”?
Well, “wend” has fallen out of fashion a few times in its eight-hundred-year history, but its past tense didn’t always recede with it. The past tense of “go” used to be “gaed” or “oede,” depending on one’s geography. The past tense of “wend,” however, was “went,” following the same linguistic pattern as “send” and “sent.” As “wend” fell from popularity, “go” hijacked its past tense. Seriously. Word drama, folks.
Hence now, the past tense of “go” is “went.” Poor “wend” was forced to have a new past tense, “wended,” when it had its revival in everyday speech.
Who said there was anything dull about the history of language?
Happy writing!
The post Writing Tip 171: “Wind” vs. “Wend” (and the hijacking of “Went”) appeared first on Kris Spisak.
