Re: A Russian cloud?
Posted by Saddam on March 06, 2000 In Reply to: Re: A Russian cloud? posted
by James Briggs on March 05, 2000
: : : : : : I can't find the derivation of this title for this
type of missile. Any ideas? There's nothing that I can find in Britannica
oe Encarta.
: : : : : Just an idea:
: : : : : Norwegian skudda to push
: : : : : Danish skyde to shoot, shove, push
: : : : : Sorta missilish??
: : : : I give up. "Speaking Freely: A Guided Tour of American
English..." by Stuart Berg Flexner & Anne H. Soukhanov has a "Scud"
entry but it doesn't give the origin of the term. I thought it was
an abbreviation (SCUD) but it is shown as "Scud." Maybe it's a Russian
word. Here's what was in the book: "Scud, a ballistic missile used
by the Iraqis against targets in both Saudi Arabia and Israel. Developed
by the Russians in the 1950s, it was a direct descendant of the
German V-2 used against allied cities in 1944-45. The Iraqis fired
a total of 81 Scuds. The U.S. countered with the Patriot Missile,
soon sorted to the Patriot."
: : : Well, this isn't Russian, but "scud" is "(meteorological
slang) A low, fast-moving cloud." From "Slang: The Authoritative
Topic-by- Topic Dictionary..." by Paul Dickson (Pocket Books, New
York, 1990, 1998).
: : Checked my Russian dictionary and couldn't find it. The dictionary's
30 years old, though. It could be a Russian acronym, too. I'll keep
checking.
: I think it's an acronym, but what? Possibly something like: Soviet
Countries Unguided Deployed
: missile. There must be an answer somewhere!
'Silent Controlled Undetectable Destructive' There's your SCUD.
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