Panic stations

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on July 13, 2010 at 20:45

In Reply to: Panic stations posted by SteveH on July 12, 2010 at 15:51:

: What is the origin of 'panic stations'?

It's modelled on, and is a parody of, the naval term "action stations". In the navy, your action station is your allotted place or "station" when the ship goes into action, and "Action stations!" is the command warning all the ship's crew to go to those stations and be ready. By analogy, "Panic stations!" would be an instruction to everyone to prepare to scream and run about like headless chickens. (VSD)