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flak

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Flak, FlaK, flák, and fłȧk

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Alternative forms

  • flack (adverse criticism and spokesperson senses)

Etymology

Borrowed from German FlaK, short for Fliegerabwehrkanone (“anti airplane cannon”).

Pronunciation

Noun

flak (countable and uncountable, plural flaks)

  1. Ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells. [from 1938]
    Synonyms: ack-ack, AAA, triple-A
    • 1931, W. E. Collinson, “Review: Neue Wege zum reinen Deutsch”, in The Modern Language Review‎, volume 26, number 2, page 230:
      Another peculiar modern development is that of […] military abbreviations in army orders such as Flak ('Fliegerabwehrkanone' or 'archie')[.]
    • 1964, David John Cawdell Irving, The Destruction of Dresden, page 74:
      […] to consider whether the city was in February 1945 an undefended city within the meaning of the 1907 Hague Convention, it will be necessary to examine the establishment and subsequent total dispersal of the city's flak batteries, before the date of the triple blow.
    • 2007, Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Retreat to the Reich: The German Defeat in France, 1944, footnote, page 30:
      He was promoted to general of flak artillery on March 1, 1945, and ended the war as the general of the flak arm at OKL, the High Command of the Luftwaffe.
  2. Anti-aircraft shell fire. [from 1940]
    Synonym: ack-ack
    • 1943 November 29, “Target: Germany”, in Life, page 80:
      At 1057 we were just over the islands and at 1100 the tail gunner reported flak at six o'clock, below.
    • 1971 [1945 August 23], Wilma Ratchford Craig, “Robert Hugh Ratchford”, in Ratchfords . . . I Reckon‎, Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc., sourced from Gastonia Gazette, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 152:
      Young Ratchford was first reported missing in action and later reported killed in action as of March 9. He was flight engineer on a B-24 Liberator bomber, and his plane was seen to go down in flames just after it had passed over Munster, where it had encountered heavy flak.
    • 1984, Steve Harris, "Aces High", Iron Maiden, Powerslave.
      There goes the siren that warns of the air raid / Then comes the sound of the guns sending flak / Out for the scramble we've got to get airborne / Got to get up for the coming attack.
    • 1999, Brian O'Neill, Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer, page 118:
      I could hear the fragments from the flak shells hitting the plane like someone throwing rocks at it.
  3. (figuratively, informal) Adverse criticism. [from 1963]
    • 1981 June 25, Michael Sragow, “Inside ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ - The ultimate Saturday matinee”, in Rolling Stone‎:
      There’s always been a built-in backlash against big-scale caprices like Raiders of the Lost Ark from people who think that $20 million should be spent on more than entertainment for its own sake. Raiders may also get flak for not being as cuddly-lovable as Star Wars, or for using those old reliables – the Nazis – as villains, or for dazzling the audience with an almost brazen self-confidence.
    • 1990, Joel H. Spring, The American School, 1642-1990, page 380:
      This filter Herman and Chomsky call “flak,” which refers to letters, speeches, phone calls, and other forms of group and individual complaints. Advertisers and broadcasters avoid programming content that might cause large volumes of flak.
    • 2011 December 10, Marc Higginson, “Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa”, in BBC Sport‎:
      Alex McLeish, perhaps mindful of the flak he has been taking from sections of the Villa support for a perceived negative style of play, handed starts to wingers Charles N'Zogbia and Albrighton.
    • 2022 January 12, Tom Allett, “Network News: MPs concerned at Treasury's influence on rail industry”, in RAIL, number 948, page 13:
      More flak was aimed at the Treasury's apparent lack of marketing skills, when it was argued that its idea of how to sell tickets was along the lines of "you can get two tickets for the price of two", and it lacks the sales and promotional skills of the train operating companies which are needed to boost revenue.
  4. (informal) A public-relations spokesperson.
    • 2006, Edward Herman, Noam Chomsky, A Propaganda Model, in 2006 [2001], Meenakshi Gigi Durham, Douglas Kellner (editors), Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks, revised edition, page 277,
      AIM head, Reed Irvine's diatribes are frequently published, and right-wing network flaks who regularly assail the “liberal media,” such as Michael Ledeen, are given Op-ed column space, sympathetic reviews, and a regular place on talk shows as experts.

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