semantic drift: "disrupt" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

This didn't sound too unusual to me.  But I searched through Newsbank's
"Armed Services and Government News" and "Military Periodicals" and got
nothing similar.

No "Disrupt" AND IED/Bomb/EOD.

No "Disrupt the vehicle/bomb/device/IED".

I'd have thought something would have come up.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 3:24 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: semantic drift: "disrupt"
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      semantic drift: "disrupt"
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------------
>
> The D.C. police are at the moment employing a bomb-squad
> robot called "Robocop" (maybe a trademark?) to investigate a
> suspicious vehicle. The police spokesperson is describing the
>   procedure, which includes knocking out a window with a
> robotic arm, as "disrupting the vehicle."  She says too that,
> once it had broken its way inside, the robot could fire a
> stream of water "to further disrupt the vehicle."
>
>   I'd have said "neutralize," but "disrupt" seems to be the
> term of art.
>
>   JL
>
>
>
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Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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