Talk:Flak (disambiguation)

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German Term[edit]

The german term stated as the root of flak is different from the one stated in the wiktionary. Here it is Flugabwehrkanone (and in Anti-aircraft warfare), Wiktionary states Fliegerabwehrkanone.

I am a bit mystified why every english page seems to think it is "Fliegerabwehrkanone". It is "Flugabwehrkanone" see e.g. the Bundeswehr page on the FlakPanzer Gepard. Just because a word by word translation into English does not make sense doesn't mean it is wrong.

"As a component of mostly Dutch, but also German and Scandinavian area place names, flak and similar may mean "flat land" or "flat sandbank": e.g. Flakfortet, Maasvlakte, Goeree-Overflakkee: compare English "flake"." It's actually vlak in dutch, not flak

English Usage[edit]

This disambiguation isn't quite correct. The English language adopted "flak" as a new word after WW2, in reference specifically to anti-aircraft weaponry that fires shells that burst into a cloud of shrapnel, such as the German 88 mm. It is not really used in a way that includes other types of anti-aircraft weapons. --Trifler (talk) 14:49, 23 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Trust me, it is. Probably 99% of regular people can't distinguish one type of AA shell from another, and yet, they refer to all of them as "flak"... CapnZapp (talk) 23:08, 1 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]