When someone “gets lost” it’s about orientation – or more precisely, about the loss of it. A phrase that many should be familiar with. Less well known, however, is their origin from the earliest times of military aviation. Pilots were nicknamed “Emil” back then. Observers, who mostly also had to navigate, and their compasses were called “Franz”. Navigating was called “franzen”. And the result of incorrect navigation: “got lost” https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/. Bernhard Essig. “This is how technical terms and idioms migrated from pilot language to everyday language,” explains the Bamberg-based “Indiana-Jones of linguists”. Nuremberg News dubbed since he answered almost every question about proverbs and sayings in the Deutschlandradio program “Essigs Essenzen”.
The “sex bomb” and the “blockbuster” also come from pilot language
Karin Grimme from the Military History Museum Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow contacted Essig in 2019 to design an exhibition on the subject of “Military and Language”. He suggested pushing the issue even further, focusing on proverbial tropes related to air warfare, and providing two dozen worthwhile examples ranging from “devastated” to “being on top of things”. . On this basis, the team of curators headed by Essig and Grimme developed the “Bombenwetter!” traveling exhibition, which can be seen from September 2nd at the Flugwerft Schleißheim, a branch of the Deutsches Museum. The keywords are presented in black on yellow on large-format modules, supplemented by suitable exhibits and explanatory texts. The “sex bomb” has both a black bomb and a pointed, pink brassiere. And the “blockbuster”, which actually referred to a large bomb from the British Royal Air Force, is now associated with star cinema and now even with high-selling drugs – as illustrated by the Covid vaccine vials next to the huge, explosive cylinder.
Great weather!, 2 Sep. until 28 Feb 2023, Flugwerft Schleißheim, Effnerstraße 18