A.Word.A.Day--flak - I had no idea, how interesting !

[TeamProg]

flak


MEANING:
noun:
1. Severe criticism.
2. Anti-aircraft fire.

ETYMOLOGY:
An acronym of German Flugzeugabwehrkanone (anti-aircraft gun), from Fliegerg (flyer) + Abwehr (defense) + Kanone (gun). Earliest documented use: 1938. The word is sometimes also spelled as flack.

USAGE:
“I’ll take the praise or the flak, whichever comes.”
Bobbi Smith; Treasures & Pleasures; Invoke Books; 2016.

“In 2015 Uzbekistan Airways started measuring how heavy flyers were for safety reasons. But predictably, the practice has got some airlines a lot of flak from their passengers.”
The Case for Weighing Passengers Before Flights: Fat Tax; The Economist (London, UK); May 3, 2019.



A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Who is content with nothing possesses all things. -Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux, poet (1 Nov 1636-1711)

[malthaussen]

1. "flack" typically means "publicist," as in "media flack."

The usage of "flack" for "flak" is just a misspelling. The derivation of "flack" is uncertain. In more recent times, "flack" has also been verbed, so one may "flack" for something -- which means advertise, promote, etc.

Which makes "flack" a sort of microcosm of what has been happening to English lately: words mistaken, spelling optional, and nouns turned into verbs. A much more interesting word that one might have thought.

-- Mal

[TeamProg]

2. I think you mean "hack", as in " media hack".

I’ve NEVER heard flack used as you suggest.

[malthaussen]

3. Nope. Very common usage.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flack

-- Mal