[Ads-l] double-tap

Thu Sep 12 19:02:13 UTC 2019

Here is an instance of "double-tap" in 1982, but the two bullets are
destined for two different locations on the adversary.

Date: November 14, 1982
Newspaper: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Newspaper Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Section: Town and Country North
Article: Armed and ready, special forces wait to respond
Author: Andrew Wallace (Inquirer Staff Writer)
Quote Page 1N, Column 1
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
Lt. Thomas Miller peeps around the side of a yellow barricade and
fires two quick shots. There is no waiting to see whether the first
finds flesh.
"Double-tap" shooting they call it. One slug in the body, one in the
face. In this exercise, the second shot follows as quickly as Miller
-- a lithe, compact man in a blue work shirt and pants -- can pull the
trigger.
[End excerpt]

The Wikipedia article on "double tap" referred to a book by Ian Dear
that discussed British Special Operations Executive (SOE) trainers.
The book appeared in 1996 and used the term "double tap", but it is
not clear whether the trainers used that term. Wikipedia asserts that
"Fairbairn is reported to have instructed SOE personnel in the double
tap from 1944 to 1945."
Maybe "double tap" appears in secret SOE or OSS files. Who knows?

Year: 2016 (First published by Arms and Armour in 1996)
Book Title: Sabotage and Subversion: The SOE and OSS at War
Author: Ian Dear
Unnumbered Page of Ebook format
Publisher: The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire
Google Books Preview
https://books.google.com/books?id=mE8fDgAAQBAJ&

[Begin excerpt]
Now Fairbairn and Sykes taught the crouching stance square on to the
target with a two-handed grip on the pistol which was fired at waist
level; and instead of firing a shot at a time they taught what is
known as the ‘double tap’: two shots fired in quick succession. It was
this kind of training which was of inestimable value to the hundreds
of SOE and OSS agents who went into the field.
[End excerpt]

On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 1:57 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the pointer, Benjamin. The Wikipedia article uses the term
> "double tap", but it does not seem to indicate when the term was
> coined. It appears that the technique was used before it was named
> "double tap".
>
> Here is a match with the desired sense for "double-tap" in 1986.
>
> Date: May 16, 1986
> Newspaper: The Whitehorse Star
> Newspaper Location: Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
> Article: Anti-terrorist squad prepares to defend
> Quote Page 22, Column 4
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/578769493/?terms="double-tap"
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> And they are learning to treat their weapons, usually submachine-guns
> and pistols, like appendages, They "double-tap" their cardboard
> targets without taking aim — two bullets to the head and two to the
> body.
> [End excerpt]
>
> The Wikipedia piece mentions a 1979 article in "American Handgunner",
> but the magazine did not appear to contain "double tap" (Maybe I
> missed it.) The article simply said that targets received "two shots
> each".
>
> [Begin Wikipedia excerpt]
> Double taps are an integral part of the El Presidente combat pistol
> shooting drill developed by Jeff Cooper in the 1970s and published in
> the January/February 1979 issue of American Handgunner.
> [End Wikipedia excerpt]
>
> Date: January February 1979
> Periodical: The American Handgunner
> Publisher: Publisher's Development Corp., San Diego, California
> Article: "El Presidente"
> Author: Jeff Cooper
> Start Page 22, Quote Page 23
> https://americanhandgunner.com/1979issues/HJF79.pdf
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> The shooter stands with his back to the targets, opposite the center.
> His pistol is holstered and safe and his hands may be held any way
> except "cocked." He wears clothing that conceals the fact that he is
> armed.
>
> On signal he pivots 180° and engages each target with two shots each,
> reloads, and repeats.
> [End excerpt]
>
> On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 1:07 PM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_tap <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_tap>) says that the technique of shooting someone twice is to overcome the limited ability of full metal jacketed ammunition to kill, and says that William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes are generally given credit for the developing the technique in Shanghai the 1930s. The Chinese version of the page says that the Chinese term is 雙連擊.
> >
> > FWIW
> > Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
> > Formerly of Seattle, WA
> >
> > > On 12 Sep 2019, at 09:58, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> > >
> > > The Newspapers.com database has various non-violent uses for "double
> > > tapped", e.g.:
> > > double tapped soles
> > > double tapped a bunt
> > > double tapped a ball
> > > double tapped a putt
> > >
> > > In a quick search I didn't see "double-tapped" used for dual job
> > > selection. I looked for "twice tapped" and did not see a pertinent job
> > > match. I looked for "tapped twice" and did find a match. All these
> > > phrases are unsurprising, I think.
> > >
> > > Date: January 16, 2009
> > > Newspaper: Dayton Daily News
> > > Newspaper Location: Dayton, Ohio
> > > Article: Our View: PUCO would benefit from an Ellis Jacobs
> > > Quote Page A10, Column 1
> > > Database: Newspapers.com
> > >
> > > https://www.newspapers.com/image/411620986/?terms="tapped%2Btwice"%2B"two%2Bjobs"
> > >
> > > [Begin excerpt]
> > > Every year the governor makes an appointment to the Public Utilities
> > > Commission of Ohio. Now's the time.
> > >
> > > . . .
> > > This would make his fifth tour of duty, having been tapped twice in
> > > the 1980s by former Democratic Gov. Richard Celeste, then again in
> > > 1999 and 2004 by former Republican Gov. Bob Taft.
> > >
> > > [End excerpt]
> > >
> > > On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 12:23 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
> > > <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> The term was used as a movie title in 1997. Title was mentioned in
> > >> 1996 newspaper stories.
> > >>
> > >> Year: 1997
> > >> Movie: Double Tap
> > >> Directed by: Greg Yaitanes
> > >> Writing Credits: Erik Saltzgaber, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
> > >> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119012/
> > >>
> > >> [Begin excerpt form storyline]
> > >> A master assassin who specializes in shooting his victims twice in the
> > >> head, a "double tap", may not be everything he initially seems to be.
> > >> [End excerpt form storyline]
> > >>
> > >> Garson
> > >>
> > >> On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 12:10 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
> > >> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>>
> > >>> Here is a 1997 book that employed "double tap" as a noun and
> > >>> hyphenated "double-tap" as a verb.
> > >>>
> > >>> Year: 1997
> > >>> Book Title: Nowhere To Hide
> > >>> Author: James Elliott
> > >>> Quote Page 35 and 174
> > >>> Simon & Schuster, New York
> > >>> (Internet Archive; verified with scans)
> > >>>
> > >>> [Begin excerpt on page 35]
> > >>> Again, nothing was disturbed. "Ten to one it was a hit."
> > >>> "No gun near the body," O'Brien said, leaning in to get a good look at
> > >>> the side-by-side entry wounds in Onorati's forehead. "Double tap to
> > >>> the head. kind of rules out a suicide, huh?"
> > >>> [End excerpt on page 35]
> > >>>
> > >>> [Begin excerpt on page 174]
> > >>> Falconetti saw Totani nod briefly to Johnnie Socks, who still stood
> > >>> behind him, holding the tip of the silencer to the back of his head.
> > >>> Falconetti closed his eyes, waiting for the gunshot he knew he would
> > >>> never hear before it killed him.
> > >>> “Open your eyes. Tommy. It isn’t over yet. You think I’m gonna have
> > >>> Johnnie double-tap you in the back of the head, don’t you?”
> > >>> Falconetti opened his eyes, half-believing he was getting a
> > >>> last-second reprieve.
> > >>> [End excerpt on page 174]
> > >>>
> > >>> My search was not thorough. In fact, I only searched for the phrase
> > >>> "Double tap to the head".
> > >>>
> > >>> Garson
> > >>>
> > >>> On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 11:46 AM Jonathan Lighter
> > >>> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>>>
> > >>>> FWIW, Moore's 2003 ex. of the verb, the subject of the OP, appears to be
> > >>>> the earliest in Google Books as well.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> JL
> > >>>>
> > >>>> On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 11:41 AM Andy Bach <afbach at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>>>
> > >>>>> I recall hearing it in "Zombieland" (2009), in the opening sequence
> > >>>>> where the voiceover lists the rules for living/staying alive in Zland
> > >>>>> - there it meant add a second bullet, in case the first just wounds
> > >>>>> the zombie. The underlying story was written in 2005, though not sure
> > >>>>> if the rules were written then. As it happens, a sequel, Zombieland:
> > >>>>> Double Tap, is set to be released on October 18, 2019.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 6:59 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > >>>>> wrote:
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> The term in its literal meaning was popularized by reporting on the Bin
> > >>>>>> Laden Raid of 2011.
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> JL
> > >>>>>> --
> > >>>>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > >>>>> truth."
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> --
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> a
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Andy Bach,
> > >>>>> afbach at gmail.com
> > >>>>> 608 658-1890 cell
> > >>>>> 608 261-5738 wk
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>> --
> > >>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> > >>>>
> > >>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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