[Ads-l] kinetic (military)

[Ben Zimmer]

See also the thread here last May, in which Bill Mullins provided various
early cites (including "go kinetic" from 1997):

https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2026-May/thread.html#169177

On Tue, Jul 28, 2026 at 1:15 PM dave at wilton.net <dave at wilton.net> wrote:

>
> OED doesn't have the military sense. "Kinetic event" was the 2010 ADS Most
> Euphemistic WOTY. The corresponding "Among the New Words" article has a
> 2008 cite for "kinetic event" which I've slightly antedated.
>
> Here are some examples that demonstrate the development of this sense of
> "kinetic."
>
> "kinetic energy projectile"
>
> “U.S. Army Recognized Former Resident for Energy Projectile.” Chanute
> Tribune (Kansas), 25 September 1976, 7/5. NewspaperArchive.com.
>
> "Brandon, an employee of the Ballistic Research Laoratories [sic],
> Aberdeen, Md., and four other men were recognized for their combined
> efforts in developing a new 60 millimeter kinetic energy projectile as part
> of the Army’s Medium-Caliber Anti-Armor Automatic Cannon Program."
>
>
> "kinetic energy round"
>
> Webbe, Stephen. “M-1 Tank: Prone to Fires in the Crew’s Compartment?”
> Christian Science Monitor (Boston), 8 January 1982. ProQuest Newspapers.
>
> "But the M-1 may not be as indestructible as the army likes to claim.
> Congressional testimony and unclassified army documents indicate that its
> Chobham armor is vulnerable to penetration by Soviet shells[.]
>
> "Some experts claim that although this revolutionary British armor
> provides good protection against high-explosive anti-tank rounds, it has no
> special capability against solid-shot, or kinetic energy, rounds that tanks
> use to destroy each other. The Army stoutly denies the claim[.]"
>
>
> "kinetic form of warfare" and "kinetic targeting"
>
> McCarthy, Rory and Duncan Campbell. “The Language of War.” Guardian
> (London), 18 March 2003, 7/7–8. ProQuest Newspapers.
>
> "kinetic targeting" and "go kinetic"
>
> "Current preferred euphemism for dropping bombs. When aircraft drop
> leaflets on Iraq asking the military to surrender and radio stations
> broadcast anti-Saddam rhetoric, the generals describe it as soft targeting.
> When fighter jets and cruise missiles destroy targets on the ground, the
> military calls it 'kinetic targeting.'
>
> "For the military, it is an unusually simple and vigorous description fo
> the destruction they are about to deliver. It has also spawned a spin-off:
> the tens of thousands of US and British troops poised to attack Iraq are
> simply waiting for permission to 'go kinetic.'"
>
>
> "kinetic event"
>
> Manganaro, Christopher G. “Doing More with Less: Special Forces in
> Afghanistan.” Army Logistician, 39.6, November/December 2007, 26–30.
> ProQuest Trade Journals.
>
> "The procurement and distribution of humanitarian assistance items can
> have an effect on mission accomplishment that is as significant as the
> support of kinetic operations. During a non-kinetic event, such as a
> medical civil action project, the FLE [forward logistics element] can
> prepare supplies and strategic loads to be pushed forward to villages using
> host nation trucks or Afghan National Army (ANA) vehicles."
>
>
>

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