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    Doc jargon: What's the Flak

    Doc Jargon

    Photo By Kaitlin Knauer | Doc Jargon, cutting through the jargon that is the U.S. Army. Send your Army...... read more read more

    KANSAS, UNITED STATES

    09.28.2022

    Story by Collen McGee 

    Fort Riley Public Affairs Office

    Dear Doc Jargon,
    I hear the word “flak” a lot and I know it means shrapnel and related stuff – but I’m really curious about how that came to be the word for flying metal debris and bullets. I can understand also how it came to be used by people under pressure from peers and bosses – as in, “I’m taking a lot of flak for my idea at work.”
    Would you do a little digging and help me learn the source of all flak?
    Signed,
    Flak-less at Fort Riley

    Dear Flak-less,
    I am happy to find the origin for you – you know how much I love to dig into the words behind our military lingo.
    Believe it or not, the word is short for the German word for antiaircraft gun “Fliegerabwehrkanone.” Don’t worry – I can’t pronounce it either and that is exactly why a shortened version of the word exists. Flak was reported as being coined during during WWII by American Soldiers who herd the Germans using the word for their antiaircraft artillery. Since then it has stuck and the meaning has broadened just like you said.
    I hope you continue this year being flak-less and curious.

    Sincerely,
    Doc Jargon

    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 09.28.2022
    Date Posted: 09.28.2022 17:18
    Story ID: 430298
    Location: KANSAS, US

    Web Views: 94
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN