Irony

[Bill Palmer]

Retrograde irony?

Conceding that the Normandy invasion is the one that comes to mind when the
term is used, every military operation has a D-Day, which is, obviously, the
date of the assault. It's quite possible that there have been other 6 June
D-Days.

 Mostly, though, the term is used in amphibious operations, where a ship to
shore movement or vertical envelopment is employed. It is useful as a
notional date which planning can be centered on, "X will happen on D-1",
etc., when the specific is not yet decided upon.

The specific time that the first seaborne wave lands on the beach is H-Hour,
and the time of the initial airborne assault is L-Hour.

The author Joel quotes may have used the term D-Day, but it probably wasn't
in use in 1768.


Bill Palmer

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2010 9:03 PM
Subject: Irony


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Irony
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> A historian I am reading remarks of a British attack on Louisbourg
> (Nova Scotia) during the Seven Year's War that "On D-Day, ironically
> June 6, three divisions of invaders made their way toward three
> landing beaches ..."
>
> How can a date in 1758 be an "ironic" choice when the date that is
> commonly associated with the name "D-Day" was nearly two centuries later?
>
> Joel
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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