Term warbird where it comes from?
Fri Dec 22, 2006 4:08 am
Where did term WAR BIRD come from?
War ok easy and bird well aint a chick so...?
So when did it come into use?
Who started it and why?
War ok easy and bird well aint a chick so...?
So when did it come into use?
Who started it and why?
Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:37 am
Always Photographed, and Never Forgotten...they just fade away.....
WARBIRDS..!!
Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:55 am
Good question for a Safire column.
I think "warbird" and "war bird" have been used as a synonym for "military aircraft" by the popular press since at least the 1930s, possibly WWI. Sometimes they still are.
As for when it came to stand for preserved ex-military aircraft, I wonder too. It was certainly current by the mid 1960s when Warbirds of America was formed but I don't know how long before that. I'd be interested in tracing its first DOCUMENTED use in the sense that we use it.
August
I think "warbird" and "war bird" have been used as a synonym for "military aircraft" by the popular press since at least the 1930s, possibly WWI. Sometimes they still are.
As for when it came to stand for preserved ex-military aircraft, I wonder too. It was certainly current by the mid 1960s when Warbirds of America was formed but I don't know how long before that. I'd be interested in tracing its first DOCUMENTED use in the sense that we use it.
August