# Without checking any reference source: define and give the significance of the word "blitzkrieg." **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798 "2014-04-23T19:37:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/81 "2014-04-24T20:49:59Z")
> [@wellanuff](#): > > it’s a powerful light that has been jury-rigged to cook crepe-like pancakes. > > Did i get it right? blintzklieg’d!!! 😃 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/82 "2014-04-24T21:31:03Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > It was something like “We are going to follow the example of Stonewall Jackson and blitzkrieg our customers to meet our revenue goals this quarter.” There’s an internet meme, where an image has a quote from a character in a work of (usually science) fiction, attributed to a different character from a different work of fiction, and showing the picture of a third character from a third work of fiction. Maybe that’s the effect he was going for. (OK, probably not, but that’s what that quote made me think of.) ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/83 "2014-04-24T21:52:39Z")
Without checking: German: lightning-something, I think. lightning strike? maybe? Between the wars, France spent a lot of time, effort, and money prepping for another trench war on/near the German border. When the war actually came, Germany didn’t bother with the whole trench thing and instead used a combination of air strikes and heavy cavalry in a hard, fast, devastating attack. Today it is used metaphorically for an all out attack on something usually involving some level of surprise or suddenness and superior tech. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/84 "2014-04-24T21:58:23Z")
With checking: I wasn’t completely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/85 "2014-04-29T13:59:02Z")
I forgot the translation of “lightning war,” but remembered the rest. And is it wrong that I’m giggling while picturing Stonewall Jackson singing about his magic helmet? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/86 "2014-04-29T14:04:59Z")
I don’t know the literal translation. It is a German term from World War 2 for fast-moving attacks that were intended to quickly take territory and win the war. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/87 "2014-04-29T17:41:48Z")
Blitzkrieg: the German term for Stonewall Jackson’s use of 1920’s-style death rays to attack and hold the Marianas Trench for 20 minutes in the 1960’s. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/88 "2014-04-29T18:09:38Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > “We are going to follow the example of Stonewall Jackson and blitzkrieg our customers to meet our revenue goals this quarter.” Jackson? Forget it, he’s rolling. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/89 "2014-04-29T18:41:59Z")
Lighting War - A German phrase for those special times when a coordinated, flexible attacker with an aggressive plan meets a disjount, calcified defender with no plan. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/90 "2014-04-29T18:56:57Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Why? Because I just read a memo using the term in a context that leads me to suspect that the memo’s author believes the Second World War was fought between the armies of Mordor and Persia. I would have thought that every college-educated adult in the United States–hell, every middle school graduate in the US–would know at least the basics of the term, but perhaps I was wrong. Or perhaps the memo-writer is the rule-proving exception. > > Anyway: without checking any reference source other than your own brain, what does the word “blitzkrieg” mean, what language does it come from, and what is its historical significance? It refers to an lightning assault against a fortified line with armor units with the intention of forcing a breakthrough, after which point the attacking force is able to flank and attack opposing units from behind their own lines. It’s German, and refers to the tactics used by the Germans’ attack on Poland in 1939. All this from memory, because much of my misspent youth was misspent on [this game.](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4168/blitzkrieg) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/91 "2014-04-29T19:29:11Z")
A tactic used by Nazi Germany early in WWII that employed tanks, air power and mechanized infrantry to quickly overwhelm, or bypass nations’ defenses. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/92 "2014-04-29T19:35:34Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Which is why I said upthread that, if you were going to be as off-base as the memo’s writer, you could have at least written Sherman. > > And I didn’t need your Wikipedia cite. The fact that Sherman’s death by friendly fire always strikes me as faintly humorous is probably part of the reason I am a bad person. Knowing who Jackson was and when he lived was part of the reason the memo caught my attention. It was nearly as incongruous as saying “We’re going to follow the example of Hannibal,” etc. To be fair, the Germans did study confederate tactics, Irwin Rommel came to Monterey, VA to study Stonewall Jackson’s campaign, but I don’t the author of your memo knew that. ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/93 "2014-04-29T19:57:52Z")
Blitzkrieg is a German word, literally “lightning war.” It refers to the integated air/land attacks first used by Germany in Poland and later in Belgium and France, with armor, infantry and aircraft attacks coordinated an an until then unprecedented fashion. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/94 "2014-04-29T19:58:46Z")
Missed the edit window, but after some internet research it turns out the story of Erwin Rommel’s travels to VA are not only apocryphal, they might not even be true. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/95 "2014-04-29T20:10:20Z")
Without reading the rest of the thread: It was the first systematic coordination of tanks, other ground forces, and **aircraft** surrounding and attacking a specific target. Most people confuse it with the long, unrelenting really all-out bombing run on England by the Germans. “The Blitz” is not short for “Blitzkrieg.” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/96 "2014-04-29T20:34:21Z")
I’ve read all the replies, so let me inject some 21st century into this discussion. **Blitzkrieg** is that word used by The Ramones in their song “Blitzkrieg Pop” But more commonly, **Blitzkrieg** is the longer version of “Blitz,” which is a football term for swarming the quarterback with overwhelming force and speed. For the average person today, the second definition is the one that they know. I’m sure most are familiar with it being German in origin (it just sounds German, ya know?), but what war it comes from and the exact military applications likely don’t matter to Joe Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/97 "2014-04-29T22:53:02Z")
Perhaps he was referring to the [Battle of Chancellorsville](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chancellorsville), in which Jackson took the fight to the enemy instead of waiting for them to reach him. Did he do so swiftly? Ehhhh, I suppose so. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/98 "2014-04-29T23:06:41Z")
Hit them fast with everything you got. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/99 "2014-04-29T23:12:34Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’ve read all the replies, so let me inject some 21st century into this discussion. > > **Blitzkrieg** is that word used by The Ramones in their song “Blitzkrieg Pop” > > But more commonly, **Blitzkrieg** is the longer version of “Blitz,” which is a football term for swarming the quarterback with overwhelming force and speed. > > For the average person today, the second definition is the one that they know. I’m sure most are familiar with it being German in origin (it just sounds German, ya know?), but what war it comes from and the exact military applications likely don’t matter to Joe Internet. Would Joe Internet know the song is actually called, “Blitzkrieg **Bop** ”? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798/100 "2014-04-29T23:47:52Z")
Trivia Q: Which NWOBHM band originally wrote and recorded the Metallica song “Blitzkrieg”? [Blitzkrieg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll4Ij58497Q) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-checking-any-reference-source-define-and-give-the-significance-of-the-word-blitzkrieg/686798.md?page=6)