EXOCET

noun and verb (War and Weaponry) noun: The trade mark of a kind of rocket-propelled short-range guided missile, used especially in sea warfare. Used figuratively: something devastating and unexpected, a 'bombshell'. transitive or intransitive verb: To deliver a devastating attack on (something) with, or as if with, an Exocet missile; to move as if hit by a missile, to 'rocket'. Etymology: A direct borrowing from French exocet, literally 'flying fish'; the missiles are made by a French company and they skim across the surface of water like flying fish, making them virtually impossible to detect and destroy. History and Usage: The name has been registered as a trade mark in the UK since 1970, but came to prominence during the Falklands war of 1982. In particular, the destruction of Royal Naval ships by Argentinian Exocet missiles during that conflict helped to establish the figurative use of the word, both as a noun and as a verb. Then he produced his Exocet: a copy of your most recent readership survey. New Statesman 27 Sept. 1985, p. 13 The full range of missiles--notably the Exocet, whose very name...has become synonymous with highly efficient death and destruction--will be on display. The Times 10 June 1987, p. 20 Burton's family are furious at Sally's decision to sell the family home...Their Exocet reply is to back a critical biography of the late screen hero. Telegraph (Brisbane) 6 Jan. 1988, p. 5 I presented the bristle end of a broom to the back end of the pony, which exoceted up the ramp into the trailer. Daily Telegraph 16 Dec. 1989, Weekend section, p. vii