flak

[Wilson Gray]

On Mar 30, 2005, at 5:58 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      flak
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> This misunderstanding of "flak" as shrapnel or bullets must be decades
> old :
>
> 1990 Philip H. Melling _Vietnam in American Literature_ (Boston:
> Twayne) 5 : If the reader is made to experience the life of the
> soldier, the flak he gets will come from the writer's attempt to
> convey the impact of the grenade and ricochet, the sudden eruption of
> a violent event.
>
> The primary source of this misinterpretation must be the familar "flak
> vest / jacket," first issued to bomber crews during WWII but widely
> used by infantry during and since the Vietnam War.
>
> One wonders about "ricochet" as well.
>
> JL
>

Is this Twayne the same Twayne that was a pioneer in publishing sf/stf
- are you old enough to remember the battles between the sf'ers
(science-fictioners) and the stf'ers (scientifictioners) - in
hard-cover?

-Wilson

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