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muriel_volestrangler

(102,754 posts)
10. Yes, 'careering'. 'Careening' is turning a ship, except in America, for some reason
Wed Jun 28, 2017, 07:09 AM
Jun 2017

VERB

no object, with adverbial of direction Move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way.
‘the coach careered across the road and went through a hedge’

Origin
Mid 16th century (denoting a road or racecourse): from French carrière, from Italian carriera, based on Latin carrus ‘wheeled vehicle’.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/career

---
VERB

1with object Turn (a ship) on its side for cleaning, caulking, or repair.
Example sentences
1.1no object (of a ship) tilt; lean over.
‘a heavy flood tide caused my vessel to careen dizzily’
More example sentencesSynonyms
2North American no object, with adverbial of direction Move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way.
‘an electric golf cart careened around the corner’

Origin
Late 16th century (as a noun denoting the position of a careened ship): from French carène, from Italian carena, from Latin carina ‘a keel’. Sense 2 was influenced by the verb career.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/careen

So 'career' is definitely the best word to use here. The American use of 'careen' appears to have come from a mistake by Edgar Rice Burroughs, that was kept, for no apparent reason - the first use of it that the OED quotes for 'to hurtle' is:

1923 E. R. Burroughs Chessmen of Mars vii. 70 The cruiser ‘Vanator’ careened through the tempest.

The use of 'career' for "move at high speed" dates back to 1647.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

You are one tough guy Simon! montana_hazeleyes Jun 2017 #1
apparently onethatcares Jun 2017 #2
You can't keep a good man down, I guess whathehell Jun 2017 #3
One Has Priorities You Know. bitterross Jun 2017 #4
The what? HuskyOffset Jun 2017 #5
Careering isn't even a word, is it? longship Jun 2017 #8
Yes, 'careering'. 'Careening' is turning a ship, except in America, for some reason muriel_volestrangler Jun 2017 #10
I bet he couldn't move the next day! Dustlawyer Jun 2017 #6
Do NOT get between an Englishman and his pint-a-bitter! FailureToCommunicate Jun 2017 #7
Amen shenmue Jun 2017 #9
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