Looking for a copy of the OED - and some military slang to atone

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Wed, Nov 13, 2002 at 10:38:06PM -0800, Dave Wilton wrote:
> > > So as not have this be solely a personal posting, I thought I would
> > > mention some thing I read recently about military slang - being that
> > > we seem to be on the eve of war.
> > >
> > > The 'daisy cutter' bomb which became so famous during the war in
> > > Afghanistan, was coined such during it's use in the gulf war.
> >
> > That's not the case. Apart from the fragmentation bomb of WWI that
> > was called a _daisy cutter,_ the term was applied to a very
> > powerful conventional bomb during the Vietnam War. Even the specific
> > use, referring to the BLU-82, is found well before the Gulf War--
> > early 1980s at latest, but probably earlier; I don't have the cites
> > on hand. But I think Barry Popik found an example in Fynes Moryson's
> > _Itinerary_ of 1617; you could ask him.
>
> The BLU-82 has been around since 1970. I don't know exactly when the term
> "daisy cutter" was applied to it, but I would guess shortly after its
> introduction.

Now that I'm back in the office, I see that we have an example of
_daisy cutter_ referring specifically to the BLU-82 from 1971.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED