what an educashun!

[jester at PANIX.COM]

>
> In the new movie, U-571, a marine colonel uses the phrase "lock and load". I
> vaguely remember a list discussion which put this in the Korean War (or
> maybe Vietnam), but the archive search engine isn't being very forthcoming
> with the results I want.
>
> Is this an anachronism?

You haven't told us when the movie is set, but if it's WWII the
phrase is probably not an anachronism. The Historical Dictionary
of American Slang has an example of _load and lock_ from WWII and
several examples of _lock and load_ from the period immediately
following the war, referring to it.

Jesse Sheidlower
Oxford English Dictionary