flak
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- flack (adverse criticism and spokesperson senses)
Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from German FlaK, short for Fliegerabwehrkanone (“anti aeroplane cannon”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]flak (countable and uncountable, plural flaks)
- Ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells. [from 1938]
- 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.
- Anti-aircraft shell fire. [from 1940]
- Synonym: ack-ack
- 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.
- (figuratively, informal) Adverse criticism. [from 1963]
- 1981 June 25, Michael Sragow, “Inside ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ - The ultimate Saturday matinee”, in Rolling Stone[1]:
- 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[2]:
- 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.
- (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.
- 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,
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
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See also
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Albanian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Proto-Albanian *awa-laka, from Proto-Indo-European *lek- (“to jump, scuttle”) (compare Norwegian lakka (“to hop, patter about”), Latvian lèkt (“to spring, jump”), Ancient Greek ληκάω (lēkáō, “to dance to music”)).[1]
Verb
[edit]flak (aorist flaka, participle flakur)
- to throw, hurl, toss, fling off
- to smack
- (figurative) to cast off, eject
- (figurative) to renounce, reject
Related terms
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “flak”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 2
Icelandic
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed through German flach (“flat”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *flakaz.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]flak n (genitive singular flaks, nominative plural flök)
Declension
[edit]Declension of flak | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
n-s | singular | plural | ||
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | flak | flakið | flök | flökin |
accusative | flak | flakið | flök | flökin |
dative | flaki | flakinu | flökum | flökunum |
genitive | flaks | flaksins | flaka | flakanna |
Synonyms
[edit]- (wreck): rekald n
- (a fish fillet): flak af fiski n
Derived terms
[edit]See also
[edit]- lundir (of beef etc.)
Norwegian Bokmål
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]flak n (definite singular flaket, indefinite plural flak, definite plural flaka or flakene)
Derived terms
[edit]References
[edit]- “flak” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
- “flak_3” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
- “flak_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
Norwegian Nynorsk
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Old Norse flaga, flak. Akin to English flake.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]flak n (definite singular flaket, indefinite plural flak, definite plural flaka)
Derived terms
[edit]References
[edit]- “flak” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Plautdietsch
[edit]Adjective
[edit]flak
- shallow (not deep)
Polish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Middle High German vlëcke.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]flak m inan (diminutive flaczek, related adjective flakowy)
- sausage casing made from animal intestine
- Synonym: kiszka
- part of animal entrails
- (colloquial) flat tyre (deflated tyre)
- (colloquial) weak, exhausted person
- Synonym: dętka
- (in the plural) traditional tripe soup made from the stomach of a cow, occasionally also deer
- (colloquial, chiefly in the plural, of human anatomy) entrails, guts, innards, intestines, viscera (internal organs of the abdominal and thoracic cavities)
- Synonyms: bebechy, jelita, trzewia, wątpia, wnętrzności
Declension
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]- flakowacieć impf
Further reading
[edit]- flak in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- flaki in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- flak in Polish dictionaries at PWN
- flaki in PWN's encyclopedia
Swedish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed through German flach (“flat”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *flakaz.
Noun
[edit]flak n
- a larger, relatively flat piece, especially an ice floe; a floe, etc.
- Synonym: (ice floe) isflak
- a bed; a flatbed; a box ((open) bed of a vehicle, like a (pickup, dump, etc.) truck, trailer, moped with a cargo bed, etc.)
- Lägg den på flaket
- Put it on the (truck / cargo) bed
- a 24-pack of (usually beer) cans; a case, (Australia) a carton
Usage notes
[edit]Usually of a truck bed in (sense 2). Often specifically of the bed floor when of a trailer, for example when giving its dimensions (flakmått). For a trailer, it would normally be more natural to say "Lägg den på släpet" (Put it on the trailer) or the like as well.
Declension
[edit]Declension of flak | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | flak | flaket | flak | flaken |
Genitive | flaks | flakets | flaks | flakens |
Related terms
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- flak in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- flak in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- flak in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
Anagrams
[edit]- English terms borrowed from German
- English terms derived from German
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/æk
- Rhymes:English/æk/1 syllable
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English informal terms
- en:Artillery
- Albanian terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Albanian terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *lek-
- Albanian terms derived from Proto-Albanian
- Albanian lemmas
- Albanian verbs
- Icelandic terms derived from German
- Icelandic terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Icelandic 1-syllable words
- Icelandic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Icelandic/aːk
- Rhymes:Icelandic/aːk/1 syllable
- Icelandic lemmas
- Icelandic nouns
- Icelandic neuter nouns
- Icelandic countable nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål neuter nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk neuter nouns
- Plautdietsch lemmas
- Plautdietsch adjectives
- Plautdietsch 1-syllable words
- Polish terms borrowed from Middle High German
- Polish terms derived from Middle High German
- Polish 1-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:Polish/ak
- Rhymes:Polish/ak/1 syllable
- Polish lemmas
- Polish nouns
- Polish masculine nouns
- Polish inanimate nouns
- Polish colloquialisms
- pl:Auto parts
- pl:Organs
- pl:People
- pl:Poland
- pl:Sausages
- pl:Soups
- Swedish terms derived from German
- Swedish terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish neuter nouns
- Swedish terms with usage examples