another "moment" for WOTY consideration

[Bill Palmer]

would have been "William Tare Fox" in those days.

Bill P
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 11:18 AM
Subject: Re: another "moment" for WOTY consideration


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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: another "moment" for WOTY consideration
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Wackipedia notes that the current NATO radiocommunications alphabet, the
> source of Whisky, Tango, Foctrot, was first "implemented" by the
> Interantional Civil Aviation Organization in November 1951. It was
> adopted,
> with some alterations, by NATO in 1956.
>
> During the Vietnam War the Air Force occasionally used the burlesque
> phrase,
> "What the fuck, over?" and they also used the NATO alphabet.
>
> The mirth resides in the fact that radio communications (the allusion in
> "over") must be as brief as possible, and expletives are forbidden.  So
> the
> phrase, to the discerning, implies a high-stress situation, possibly
> involving Murphy's Law.
>
> Thus (and there's a lesson here, you whippersnappers) "Whisky Tango
> Foxtrot"
> meaning "What the f^*k??" *could* be as creakily ancient as 1951-52, but I
> can't find a recorded trace of it before 2000.
>
> JL
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 10:56 AM, Mark Mandel
> <Mark.A.Mandel at gmail.com>wrote:
>
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Mark Mandel <Mark.A.Mandel at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: another "moment" for WOTY consideration
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I've seen "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot", though not AFAIR modifying "moment",
>> for
>> several years at least.
>>
>> m a m
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 7:13 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu
>> >wrote:
>>
>> >  From Arianna Huffington's argument that Joe Biden should resign and
>> > become the point person for opposition to the war in Afghanistan:
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/why-joe-biden-should-resi_b_320929.html
>> >
>> >
>> > In June, Gen. Jones, the president's National Security Advisor, was
>> > at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan, meeting with U.S. commanders
>> > there. This was shortly after the arrival of the 21,000 additional
>> > troops President Obama had sent over. Jones raised the question of
>> > what the president's reaction would be if he were asked for even more
>> > troops. Well, Jones said, answering his own question, if that
>> > happened, the president would probably have a "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
>> > moment." In other words, wtf?
>> >
>> > Well, Obama has gotten that request, but it wasn't a "Whiskey Tango
>> > Foxtrot moment" for him after all. Sadly, Newsweek reports that Obama
>> > is typically "looking for a middle way." But this isn't a negotiation
>> > for a used car, where you split the difference. It's either in our
>> > national security interest to be there or it isn't. It's either a
>> > necessary war or it isn't.
>> > ==================
>> >
>> > I haven't encountered Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moments before, at least
>> > not by name.
>> >
>> > LH
>> >
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>> >
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> "There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
> Platypus"
>
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