Talk:wired into

RFD discussion: September 2020–September 2022

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wired into

A supposed polysemic preposition.

The definitions given correspond to various definitions of wire#Verb. I don't know whether they are clearly included in the existing wording there. DCDuring (talk) 21:55, 12 September 2020 (UTC)

When I look at the verb wire#Verb, the only corresponding definition I find is the first one. If we delete this definition, then we need to add a lot of meanings to wire. How many of them actually exist without the "into"? Kiwima (talk) 22:13, 12 September 2020 (UTC)

Just for info, I did add a new definition to "wire", which I thought anyway was missing:

(figuratively, usually passive) To fix or predetermine (someone's personality or behaviour) in a particular way.

There's no use trying to get Sarah to be less excitable. That's just the way she's wired.

Possibly this could cover, or be extended to cover, one or two of the examples presently at "wired into". Mihia (talk)

Does wired in "just the way she's wired" really function as a past tense verb? A quick Google suggests that "he is wired" is more common than "he was wired", but if wired is truely a past tense verb here, shouldn't it always be was? It seems to me that the way one [is / was] wired may be closer to an idiomatic phrase. - excarnateSojourner (talk|contrib) 00:52, 22 October 2021 (UTC)

Re "shouldn't it always be was?": no? Compare google books:"thirst is quenched", google books:"is demolished". - -sche (discuss) 20:24, 5 December 2021 (UTC)

{{look}}

"Connected via wires or nerves to" This is the literal meaning. Replace with {{&lit}}.

"Innately or instinctively a part of", "Included as an integral part of" all make sense if the object in each quotation is wired, e.g. brains wired with maternal instincts. Move and define there.

"Involved with" is a keeper in my opinion.

"Obsessed with", "Highly knowledgeable about" seem very similar to me. Merge and keep. DAVilla 20:27, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

Preposition is clearly not the right POS, but that's a secondary matter, to be cleaned up at RFC (or conceivably RFV, if one is being difficult) if not resolved here. "Connected via wires or nerves to" is obviously SOP, delete(/merge to wire), an electrician/etc wires in whatever is to be wired into the things that the citations then say are wired into. The two "part of" quotations likewise seem to be wire (into is not essential), so delete/merge to wire (or possibly wired), since as Davilla says, it can be used without "into": "doing so is wired into how you behave" (as one quote says) because that's just how you're wired. "Involved with", again, can be found without "into" and in other tenses of "wire" ("wiring him into all the right social networks", "his contacts wired him into [or, could wire him into] all the right social networks", etc, which is clearly a verb plus into, not a preposition). "Obsessed with" and "highly knowledgeable" don't seem distinct from each other, as Davilla says, so at a minimum merge them into each other, but they're also clearly not prepositions, so again I think this belongs at wire, or possibly wire into, but wired into is clearly just an inflected form of a verb, IMO. Consider:

• 1999, Teddi Chichester Bonca, Teddi Lynn Chichester, Shelley's Mirrors of Love: Narcissism, Sacrifice, and Sorority, SUNY Press (→ISBN), page 186:

  Like the fledgling scientist who tried to wire himself into the sisterly circle at Field Place, Prometheus joins the electric circuit formed by his "Fair sister nymphs," Panthea, Asia, ...

• 2000, Joan D'Arc, Phenomenal World: Remote Viewing, Astral Travel, Apparitions, Extraterrestrials, Lucid Dreams and Other Forms of Intelligent Contact in the Magical Kingdom of Mind-at-Large, Book Tree (→ISBN), page 154:

  ... and quite handy indeed that they also saw fit to wire themselves into the social problem that they had a major hand in creating in the first place. This almost blatant orchestration of social conflict is just a ladle in the soup of ...

• 2006, John F. Stacks, Scotty: James B. Reston and the Rise and Fall of American Journalism, U of Nebraska Press (→ISBN), page 102:

  RESTON MOVED QUICKLY to parlay his new prominence by wiring himself into high-level Washington sources, and not just Republicans like Vandenberg.

• 2007, Michael G. Santos, Inside: Life Behind Bars in America, St. Martin's Press (→ISBN), page 132:

  Working together with a highly-respected and well-connected gang leader like Lion reduces the risk of detection. Such men wire themselves into the happenings of the pen; they know who can pay how much, and they have finely tuned instincts for the rackets they control. The Nelsons work as a husband-and-wife team, which makes escaping detection easier.

• 2010, John Martin Somers, Pick Your Own Strawberries, Lulu.com (→ISBN), page 276:

  The remainder of the Inn Crowd started to wire themselves into the session. Frank, who was almost always the first to get pissed, was practically gone already, delighted with his career and with his life and determined to drink […]

• 2013, John Rentoul, Tony Blair: Prime Minister, Faber & Faber (→ISBN)

  Blair brought out the febrile intensity of Stanhope, wiring himself into his ever more circumscribed troglodyte world, speculating moodily on the worm that went down when it thought it was coming up. Robert Philp thought Blair's ...

• 2014, Helen Giltrow, The Distance: A Thriller, Anchor (→ISBN)

  A week, and most of it spent inside the compound, but already he's begun to wire himself into the environment, read its codes. The pecking order and the power struggles and the personalities. The fixers and the operators, ...

• 2018, Robin Brunet, Let's Get Frank, Douglas & McIntyre (→ISBN)

  He has always done this, having a good system for wiring himself in to the daily action and buzz of what's going on with clients and the business in general. He also has a pretty good nose for figuring out who the key influencers are,  […]

• 2019, Frank H Baker, Mason Miller, Stud Managers' Handbook, CRC Press (→ISBN)

  All that determines the amount that livestock producers receive is the degree to which they wire themselves into the various sources that are available. However, the primary source is still the land-grant-university system.

So, delete the whole thing IMO (or remake it into a mere "past tense form of" wire into), after moving the citations to wire or wire into. - -sche (discuss) 20:11, 5 December 2021 (UTC)

@Kiwima, DAVilla What do you think of the above citations, as far as showing that wired into is not a preposition meaning "involved with", but just an inflected form of the verb wire + into (or at least wire into), which is where that definition should be? I think the "obsessed with" and "highly knowledgeable of" senses also boil down to being wire+-ed +in to = involved or connected with the things in question: indeed, some of the cites [in the entry under those senses] come right out and say that, like "He is really wired into the world of hockey and connected to all facets of the sport") - -sche (discuss) 01:25, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

I agree that most of the senses are really just past participles of wire into -- except for the 2 and 3. (instinctively or innately part of, and included as an integral part of). I suppose if you are a theist, you could say that God wired maternal instinct into mothers, but that's rather a stretch. I would be happy to replace all the others by a past participle of wire into. Kiwima (talk) 02:16, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

As things stand now, "connected via wires or nerves to" is the sum of parts ({{&lit}}) definition. "Involved with", "Obsessed with", and "Highly knowledgeable about" are all similar figurative uses of a literal connection. "Innately or instinctively a part of" and "Included as an integral part of" are a different figurative sense which does not need into. I am leaning towards figurative senses on wire and wired. (I think only common figurative uses should be included, but these are common.) Vox Sciurorum (talk) 13:51, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

My take:

1. Connected via wires... - delete, SOP literal.
2. Innately or instinctively... - delete, just a sense of wire as a verb.
3. Included as an integral part... - delete, same as above, a sense of wire (v).

4-6. Involved, obsessed, knowledgeable ... - merge and keep. - TheDaveRoss 13:41, 29 April 2022 (UTC)

I have moved all of the content to wire, since it can be used in other forms (not just wired into: there are books in which God wires someone to be a tycoon, someone can wire himself into an organization or topic, etc, see quotes above and in wire). - -sche (discuss) 18:42, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Resolved? - -sche (discuss) 20:59, 10 August 2022 (UTC)

Agreed. Is it worth archiving this to Talk:wire? Overlordnat1 (talk) 10:11, 15 September 2022 (UTC)