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<P>In reseaching the German word "flak" I found that it is an acronym "Flugabwehrkannone"=Air Defense Gun. I have found that there is another spelling for it as well which is "FLiegerAbwehrKanonen." It was used in Germany first during WWII, 1926, and then again in 1939. </P>
<P>There is another acronym that was popular as well. FUBAR which comes from combining foo and bar and was used by the GIs in WWII meaning F.U Beyond All Repair.( I will leave the meaning of the first part to the imagination). It is derived from the German word "furchtbar" which means terrible. It is considered to be a backronym. </P></DIV>
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<DIV></DIV>>From: Fred Shapiro <FRED.SHAPIRO@YALE.EDU>
<DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
<DIV></DIV>>To: ADS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: Re: German Words 1939-45
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 10:30:33 -0400
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>On Thu, 1 May 2003, James A. Landau wrote:
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> > Does anyone have an etymology for "flack" (meaning a spokesperson)? I can't
<DIV></DIV>> > help wondering if the derivation is that a flack takes a lot of flak, or
<DIV></DIV>> > perhaps puts a lot of dangerous words into the air.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>I "solved" this one, as Barry would say, in a note in American Speech some
<DIV></DIV>>years ago. The evidence indicates that it derives from Gene Flack, a
<DIV></DIV>>movie publicist.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Fred Shapiro
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<DIV></DIV>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
<DIV></DIV>>Fred R. Shapiro Editor
<DIV></DIV>>Associate Librarian for Collections and YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
<DIV></DIV>> Access and Lecturer in Legal Research Yale University Press,
<DIV></DIV>>Yale Law School forthcoming
<DIV></DIV>>e-mail: fred.shapiro@yale.edu http://quotationdictionary.com
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