What Does It Mean to Go 'Haywire?'

 

Welcome to Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English!

Today, we are going on a make-believe trip to the countryside to learn about a word that comes from something used on a farm – haywire.

Like it sounds, haywire is a strong, thin wire. Farm workers often use it to tie up hay grown in the fields. They roll up the long, cut grass and store it in large bundles.

Later, when farm animals need to be fed, the wire is cut. You need to use a hatchet¹ or something else with a very sharp edge to cut the wire. Haywire does not break easily. But it can get easily twisted together by accident.

So, that is the farm material called haywire. But what does it mean to go haywire? The expression “to go haywire” has several meanings.

“To go haywire” can mean to turn crazy, unreasonable² or wild, as in this example: “If I don’t take a break from work soon, I am going to go haywire!” Here, the expressions flip³ out or freak out have a similar meaning. These are all informal or for everyday use. If you want to be more formal, you could use the word berserk.

“To go haywire” also means to start malfunctioning⁴ or failing to operate normally. We often use this expression for machines that don’t work as they should.

For example, let’s say we are visiting a peanut butter factory. A machine used to pump peanut butter into jars suddenly goes haywire. It squirts peanut butter everywhere – on the floor, on walls and on factory workers. Soon the whole area is covered with the tasty, but sticky food! So, the machine is not only broken, it made a huge mess.

“Haywire” can also mean to become out of control. When a process fails to work as planned, you can also say it ran amok. This expression is more formal. Here is an example of this meaning of “haywire.”

“Urgh. Plans for my outdoor party just went haywire! The supermarket can’t bring the birthday cake. The musicians refuse to play. There’s no place to leave a car because of unannounced street repairs in front of my house. Oh … great. And it’s going to rain. It’s going to rain hard!”

But how did this simple farm word come to mean “go wild”? Language experts say there are two stories that help explain where this meaning came from.

As we said earlier, Americans use haywire to describe a state of disorder⁵, extreme messiness – in other words, a situation where everything seems to be going wrong.

Years ago, farmers used haywire to temporarily fix a damaged fence, gate or barrier. But the wire was never a good choice for permanent repairs because it breaks down easily. The metal iron turns reddish brown and wears down when attacked by oxygen in the air or water. It other words, it rusts⁶!

This fact, however, did not stop people from using it for repairs. As a result, many fences and buildings where lots of wire were used for repairs look messy. They have gone haywire.

Another story about “haywire” comes from the material itself. When you cut tightly⁷ wound wire, you should do so carefully. It can suddenly spring back at you like a snake. It can circle your body and then stab you with its sharp ends. This can happen quickly, often catching⁸ a person off guard.

Word experts may not agree on the origin. But they can agree that anything that has “gone haywire,” has gone crazy or is a big, hot mess!

And that’s the end of this Words and Their Stories.

I’m Anna Matteo.

I pushed the fool button

My night went haywire

I pushed the fool button

Set my brain on fire

Words in This Story

hay – n. grass that has been cut and dried to be used as food for animals

bundle – n. a group of things that are fastened, tied, or wrapped together

berserk – adj. to become very angry, crazy, and violent : to become very excited

jar – n. a widemouthed container made typically of earthenware⁹ or glass

squirt – v. to come forth¹⁰ in a sudden rapid stream from a narrow opening

mess – n. a very dirty or untidy state or condition — usually singular

amok – adv. in a wild or uncontrolled manner — used in the phrase run amok

off guard – verbal¹¹ phrase in an unprepared state : not ready

hot mess – n. informal : something or someone that is emphatically a mess: such as something in a state of extreme disorder or disarray

1 hatchet   

n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀

参考例句：

• I shall have to take a hatchet to that stump.我得用一把短柄斧来劈这树桩。
• Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.别用斧头拍打朋友额头上的苍蝇。

2 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

3 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

4 malfunctioning   

出故障

参考例句：

• But something was malfunctioning in the equipment due to human error. 但由于人为的错误，设备发生故障了。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• Choke coils are useful for prevention of malfunctioning electronic equipment. 扼流圈对于防止电器设备的故障很有帮助。 来自互联网

5 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

6 rusts   

n.铁锈( rust的名词复数 )；（植物的）锈病，锈菌v.（使）生锈( rust的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Copper nails are better than iron nails because the iron rusts. 铜钉比铁钉好，因为铁会生锈。 来自辞典例句
• The axenic culture of rusts has been achieved on various defined media. 在各种规定的培养基上可得到锈菌的单体纯净培养物。 来自辞典例句

7 tightly   

adv.紧紧地，坚固地，牢固地

参考例句：

• My child holds onto my hand tightly while we cross the street.横穿马路时，孩子紧拉着我的手不放。
• The crowd pressed together so tightly that we could hardly breathe.人群挤在一起，我们几乎喘不过气来。

8 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

9 earthenware   

n.土器，陶器

参考例句：

• She made sure that the glassware and earthenware were always spotlessly clean.她总是把玻璃器皿和陶器洗刷得干干净净。
• They displayed some bowls of glazed earthenware.他们展出了一些上釉的陶碗。

10 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

11 verbal   

adj.口头的，用言辞的，用文字的，动词的

参考例句：

• Verbal statements are no guarantee.口说无凭。
• I delivered a verbal protest against their brutal acts.我对他们的暴行提出口头抗议。