How ANNOYING did you find the fact...

[Sonntag]

Originally posted by Mekt-Hakkikt
Sure there were. After all the "Claw Marks states" on page 28 that capships have both Flak Guns, as well as Turreted Lasers. The Flak guns are those things that explode in your viewscreen but never do any damage and the turreted Lasers are, well, Laser balls fired at you, but not exploding. As I said, that Turreted Laser was only fired once at me when flying towards a Dorkir.

BTW, what does "Flak" mean, is it an English word? I ask because in German it is the short for for "FLugAbwehrKanone" and I usually only read about Anti Aircraft Artillery "Triple A" in Flightsims. So where did the name come from? Maybe a German word imported into the English language just like Blitzkrieg, Kindergarten or angst?

 

[AzraeL]

Originally posted by Sonntag

BTW, what does "Flak" mean, is it an English word? I ask because in German it is the short for for "FLugAbwehrKanone" and I usually only read about Anti Aircraft Artillery "Triple A" in Flightsims. So where did the name come from? Maybe a German word imported into the English language just like Blitzkrieg, Kindergarten or angst?

No, it is not an 'English' word, but its use is so widespread that it has become an 'accepted word', at least in military (and military wannabe ) circles. Pretty much the way everyone knows that a U-Boat is a German sub.

There are a lot of expressions for anti-aircraft fire, and "Flak" is shorter and easier to say then "Triple-A". I believe "Archie" was a common English 'banter' for anti-aircraft fire in WWI.