# Whats the "D" in "D-Day" stand for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939 "2004-03-17T23:51:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939/21 "2004-03-19T03:53:58Z")
“Ground Zero” is any place that is at point-blank range – they both mean the same thing. Zero-point-blank meters from the point of impact. The recent usage of the term refers to the impact points for September 11; the usage is flawed in the case of the towers, since the aircraft hit several meters above the area we now call “ground zero.” It’s where the crater is, so it’s as good a spot as any. The “letter” notation for D-Day (Dee Plus Seven is a week after the landing, Aitch plus six is six hours after the landing) has been carried over and is what gives us “T” time to this day in military and space operations. You’ve doubtless heard “Tee minus ten, nine, eight…” in rocket countdowns; what is less well known is that we also still count “Tee-plus” in seconds (and also in minutes, hours, and days on long missions). ---
**Author:** ![T.Mehr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@T.Mehr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Mehr)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939/22 "2004-03-19T08:35:34Z")
> [@slipster](#): > > They were referred to invariably as “PAT Teams”. Just like the HIV virus… ---
**Author:** ![T.Mehr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@T.Mehr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Mehr)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939/23 "2004-03-19T08:54:49Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > When I visted the Pentagon about 1995 I was told that the coffee shop in the central courtyard was called the “Ground Zero Cafe.” Ground Zero Cafe!? Why not Hiroshima Grill? Is it still called this way? …rather odd. ---
**Author:** ![vasyachkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c5a1d2/32.png) [@vasyachkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vasyachkin)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939/24 "2004-03-19T11:25:44Z")
interesting, i always thought D-Day wa Doom’sDay or soemthing … ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939/25 "2004-03-19T19:17:34Z")
> [@](#): > > “Ground Zero” is any place that is at point-blank range – they both mean the same thing. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I had understood (probably from somewhere on this board) that “point blank range” does not, contrary to popular belief, mean “zero range”, but that it refers to the distance for which a gun’s sights are calibrated. After all, a bullet will drop slightly in flight, so you want your sights to aim a little bit low to account for this. But the sights define a line, while the bullet’s path is (approximately) a parabola, so they’ll only intersect at a point. That point being “point blank”. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939/26 "2004-03-20T00:03:33Z")
**Chronos** You understood correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939/27 "2004-03-20T06:13:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Ground Zero Cafe!? > Why not Hiroshima Grill? > Is it still called this way? > …rather odd. Ground zero is the term used for the epicenter of any expolsion, not just the Japan nukes. It is a bit of black humor by the Pentagon workers who didn’t have much confidence in their survivability during nuclear war. The bullseye was commonly thought to be painted right in the courtyard on the Soviet maps. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939/28 "2004-03-20T16:17:24Z")
I believe I read some time ago that D-Day stood for “Debarkation Day.” ---
**Author:** ![T.Mehr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@T.Mehr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Mehr)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939/29 "2004-03-22T07:18:00Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Ground zero is the term used for the epicenter of any expolsion, not just the Japan nukes. It is a bit of black humor by the Pentagon workers who didn’t have much confidence in their survivability during nuclear war. The bullseye was commonly thought to be painted right in the courtyard on the Soviet maps. hmmm, reminds me of the “Bummer of a Birthmark” catoon by Gary Larson: [http://www.artistsuk.net/acatalog/ARTISTS\_UK\_\_GARY\_LARSON\_127.html](http://www.artistsuk.net/acatalog/ARTISTS_UK__GARY_LARSON_127.html) ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939/30 "2004-03-22T07:25:45Z")
I’m sorry but you are all wrong. It stands for Doris, of course 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939/31 "2004-03-23T02:38:40Z")
> [@T. Mehr](#): > > Just like the HIV virus… And let’s not forget the NDP party. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-d-in-d-day-stand-for/234939.md?page=1)