FreedomQuotes: “If you’re not catching flak you’re not over the target”The history of the self-congratulatory cliche suggests that this retconned origin myth is bollocks.
This apparently originated from WWII bomber pilots.
They could tell when they were over the target
when they could see, hear and feel the flak.
(a) if you're catching flak it's because you strayed within range of an anti-aircraft battery; and
(b) if people are laughing at you, it's because you said something stupid.
1 comment:
Too bad Joseph Heller isn't with us. He would have known if taking/catching flak was bullshit or not, and would gladly have said so.
Or my father, for that matter, who was a Liberator co-pilot in the Pacific theater. Unfortunately the plane disappeared on a mission. Off into the blue, and never heard from again. There's probably a metaphor in that too (it happened more often than the USAAF liked to say), but I doubt it would be self-congratulatory.
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