Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
Going Ballistic
Why? As I hear it, it is usually used to mean someone agitated, even frenzied.
When something has "gone ballistic" a missle, for instance hasn't it entered a rather passive state?
(What brought this up? Timmie was lying dead by the side of the road and Mark asked me to get rid of the body before Elaine could see it. He said she'd go ballistic if she saw the body.)
Dan
http://www.genjerdan.com/nvm/tdis/index.html
Of course it's music. It has notes in it, doesn't it?
When something has "gone ballistic" a missle, for instance hasn't it entered a rather passive state?
(What brought this up? Timmie was lying dead by the side of the road and Mark asked me to get rid of the body before Elaine could see it. He said she'd go ballistic if she saw the body.)
Dan
http://www.genjerdan.com/nvm/tdis/index.html
Of course it's music. It has notes in it, doesn't it?
Top answer
[nq:1]Why? As I hear it, it is usually used to mean someone agitated, even frenzied. [/nq] Language is weird.
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[nq:1]Why? As I hear it, it is usually used to mean someone agitated, even frenzied. When something has "gone ballistic" a missle, for instance hasn't it entered a rather passive state?[/nq]
Language is weird. A dictionary might help. You could look up both "missile" and "ballistic" for further insight.
Don't go bouncing off the walls, now.
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.g
Language is weird. A dictionary might help. You could look up both "missile" and "ballistic" for further insight.
Don't go bouncing off the walls, now.
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.g
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[nq:1]Why? As I hear it, it is usually used to mean someone agitated, even frenzied. When something has "gone ballistic" a missle, for instance hasn't it entered a rather passive state?[/nq]
It's out of control and dangerous to anything in its path. It has all the passivity of a runaway locomotive.
We discussed this last year, and I noted that
The earliest quote the OED has is
1971
It's out of control and dangerous to anything in its path. It has all the passivity of a runaway locomotive.
We discussed this last year, and I noted that
The earliest quote the OED has is
1971
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[nq:2]and the scare quotes imply that it wasn't a common ... guidance system, rendering it 'ballistic' (i.e. falling freely towards impact)[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, yes. A guided missile needs guidance. Ballistic missiles, on the other hand... Well, they've already had their guidance. If a guided missile "goes ballistic", it will just carry on from it's last position/vector. Unpowered, it will
[nq:1]Well, yes. A guided missile needs guidance. Ballistic missiles, on the other hand... Well, they've already had their guidance. If a guided missile "goes ballistic", it will just carry on from it's last position/vector. Unpowered, it will
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[nq:1]It's out of control and dangerous to anything in its path. It has all the passivity of a runaway locomotive. ... launched a heat-seeking Sidewinder at a burning boat; the missile 'went ballistic' and strayed possibly the boat was just making smoke.[/nq]
When an object has gone ballistic, it cannot "stray" without some outside force affecting it.
[nq:1]and the scare quotes imply that
When an object has gone ballistic, it cannot "stray" without some outside force affecting it.
[nq:1]and the scare quotes imply that
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[nq:2]It's out of control and dangerous to anything in its ... 'went ballistic' and strayed possibly the boat was just making smoke.[/nq]
[nq:1]When an object has gone ballistic, it cannot "stray" without some outside force affecting it.[/nq]
You're misinterpreting "strayed" in the 1971 quote. Windchy means that the Sidewinder has strayed from the guided collision course with the boat that
[nq:1]When an object has gone ballistic, it cannot "stray" without some outside force affecting it.[/nq]
You're misinterpreting "strayed" in the 1971 quote. Windchy means that the Sidewinder has strayed from the guided collision course with the boat that
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[nq:2]If a guided missile "goes ballistic", it will just carry ... wild and uncontrolled about that. Perhaps unplanned, but not uncontrolled.[/nq]
[nq:1]If a guided missile goes ballistic i.e., is no longer under the control of its guidance system then it adopts a trajectory ... is at all relevant to the question of the origin of the phrase or the "correctness" of its current use).[/nq]
Go
[nq:1]If a guided missile goes ballistic i.e., is no longer under the control of its guidance system then it adopts a trajectory ... is at all relevant to the question of the origin of the phrase or the "correctness" of its current use).[/nq]
Go
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[nq:2]If a guided missile goes ballistic i.e., is no longer under ... of the phrase or the "correctness" of its current use).[/nq]
[nq:1]Gosh, there's so little understanding about some missiles. My career was in that field, so I do have a faint ... release and deliver the payload take over, and that payload follows a strictly ballistic path to the intended target. Unerringly.[/nq]
The beh
[nq:1]Gosh, there's so little understanding about some missiles. My career was in that field, so I do have a faint ... release and deliver the payload take over, and that payload follows a strictly ballistic path to the intended target. Unerringly.[/nq]
The beh
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[nq:2]Gosh, there's so little understanding about some missiles. My career ... follows a strictly ballistic path to the intended target. Unerringly.[/nq]
[nq:1]The behavior of FBMs has nothing at all to do with the issue being addressed in this thread. Windchy's use ... I have no idea whether this accurately describes the behavior of Sidewinder missiles, nor does it matter in this context.[/nq
[nq:1]The behavior of FBMs has nothing at all to do with the issue being addressed in this thread. Windchy's use ... I have no idea whether this accurately describes the behavior of Sidewinder missiles, nor does it matter in this context.[/nq
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[nq:2]When an object has gone ballistic, it cannot "stray" without some outside force affecting it.[/nq]
[nq:1]You're misinterpreting "strayed" in the 1971 quote. Windchy means that the Sidewinder has strayed from the guided collision course with the boat that it was supposed to follow, not that it has strayed from the trajectory it adopted after going ballistic.[/nq]
The heat-seeki
[nq:1]You're misinterpreting "strayed" in the 1971 quote. Windchy means that the Sidewinder has strayed from the guided collision course with the boat that it was supposed to follow, not that it has strayed from the trajectory it adopted after going ballistic.[/nq]
The heat-seeki
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