This brings up another pet peeve of mine, which I see all the time nowadays -- so frequently, I'm starting to doubt my own sanity. Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't it actually improper to say someone needs to "get untracked"? Shouldn't it really be "on track"? Untracked implies the same as derailed, if you take it literally, i.e., off the tracks. I know people are meaning it as "get unstuck" but it just seems like it's wrong.

Not as wrong as a phantom contusion, though.

2008-05-05 13:28:49

2. DXMachina

If you consider the ruts in a road as a track, getting untracked might be a good thing.

2008-05-05 13:29:33

3. old dodger fan

In his last game, about a week ago, he was 2 for 5, scored 3 runs and hit his first HR of the season. He probably thought he had just gotten back "on track". Little did he know he was done in Detroit.

2008-05-05 13:31:03

4. underdog

2 - Maybe, "in a rut" makes more sense as a way to say that, though. But I'm sure that's what it means. I suppose I should just get off this track and give it up.

2008-05-05 13:36:51

5. Bob Timmermann

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/untracked.html

2008-05-05 13:53:28

6. StolenMonkey86

Yep, not everyone can hit .160 and still keep a major league starting job.

2008-05-05 13:55:52

7. Cliff Corcoran

From Merriam-Webster's on-line:

Untrack

Function:
transitive verb
Date:
1939

: to cause to escape from a slump

Seems it's pretty much a sports-only usage.

More here:

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002148.html

That said, as an editor, I've always replaced that use of "untracked" with "on track," even in a sports context.

2008-05-05 14:01:12

8. underdog

7 Ditto here. I guess editors get paid to be anal (but at least we're not paid very well for it). Anyway, glad I'm not the only one so bothered.

2008-05-05 14:12:57

9. D4P

I hate "untracked".

2008-05-05 14:41:31

10. MC Safety

9 LOL

2008-05-05 14:46:17

11. bobsbrother

Is having something go downhill a good thing or a bad thing? "And from there, it was downhill all the way," seems good, there was nothing stopping you. But then, if you said, something "went downhill fast," that sounds bad.
Next up: anxious vs. eager.

2008-05-05 15:08:27

12. JoeyP

He was useless PVL that should have never been signed by the Tigers. Another Sean Casey-esque (what the tigers thinking???) type of signing.

Free Marcus Thames.

2008-05-05 15:45:41

13. Brent is a Dodger Fan

I will offer the following, similar misuses:

- Irregardless: it is either irrespective, or regardless. Those saying "irregardless" are naively (or ironically) combining these two other words.

- Buy Off: you can obtain a person's buy-in, or you can have that person sign-of. Again, those saying "buy off" are naively (or lazily) combining these two phrases.

Likewise, "untracked" seems to be a combination, a made up expression, irrespective of what Merriam-Webster's on-line says.

2008-05-05 17:36:54

14. fordprefect

13
I twitch the same way whenever irregardless or irrespective is used. Just can't help it.

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