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

Philip Trauring philip at CS.BRANDEIS.EDU
Thu Nov 14 01:07:16 UTC 2002


I can't afford to buy a new copy of the OED ($777 on ebay is the
cheapest I can find), so I'm looking for a used set (or a really
really discounted new set). Does anyone know where I might find a set
for not too much money? I'd like the 2nd Edition.

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. The
daisy cutter is, for those who don't know, a 12,540 pound bomb,
officially designated BLU-82 (and also nicknamed 'big blue 82').

During the gulf war, the Assad Babyle Iraqi tank (a version of the
Soviet T-72) was nicknamed the 'Dolly Parton' due to it's rounded
reinforced turret. Seems a certain sheep was not the first item to be
named after the famous country singer. Anyone know of any other
Parton-inspired names?

Personally, I laughed when I heard the term 'dumb bombs' - regular
gravity-guided bombs - as the counterparts to the newer laser-guided
'smart bombs.' Assigning intelligence to a bomb always seemed
somewhat absurd to me.

Paul Dickson's book War Slang has a good summary of terms from the
civil war through the gulf war.

Thanks,

Philip Trauring



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