[Ads-l] Euphemism of the Year candidate

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

"Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly" is a colorful euphemism. Here is a
2010 tweet with the expression. It has been used in rocketry for a
while. Elon Musk used it when discussing a SpaceX explosion in 2015.
The nuclear power industry used "energetic disassembly" and "violent
disassembly" in the 1970s. I think there are earlier examples with
"disassembly", but I do not recall the details.

[Begin tweet information]
https://twitter.com/firasd/status/25158774692
Firas Durri @firasd
today I learned my now-favorite euphemism: ‘Rapid Unscheduled
Disassembly’ (i.e. explosion)
6:49 PM · Sep 21, 2010
[End tweet information]

[Begin tweet information]
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/555981841476227072
Elon Musk @elonmusk
@ID_AA_Carmack Full RUD (rapid unscheduled disassembly) event. Ship is
fine minor repairs. Exciting day!
1:56 AM · Jan 16, 2015
[End tweet information]

Year: 1971 (GB date may be inaccurate)
Periodical: Nuclear Science and Engineering: The Journal of the
American Nuclear Society
Volume 44
Page GB 135
Database; Google Books snippet match; must be verified with scans of hardcopy
https://books.google.com/books?id=-_AWAQAAMAAJ&

[Begin excerpt]
Early in the history of fast reactor design, recognition was given to
the potential of meltdown and subsequent compaction of the core,
leading, eventually, to an energetic disassembly of the reactor.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Thu, Apr 20, 2023 at 1:42 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> a tough one to beat:
>
> https://wraltechwire.com/2023/04/20/spacex-starship-explosion-rapid-unscheduled-disassembly-before-stage-separation/
>
> Yup, it underwent a "rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage
> separation", a.k.a. an explosion
>
> LH
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org