the word “blimp” comes from flicking the surface
Trump B-Limp, because it just takes one prick… as POTUS* complains about the bots being purged from his Twitter feed.
The origin of the word “blimp” has been the subject of some confusion. Ege notes two possible derivations:[2]
- Colloquially [non-rigid airships] always were referred to as ‘Blimps’. Over the years several explanations have been advanced about the origin of this word. The most common is that in the military vernacular the Type B was referred to as ‘limp bag’, which was simply abbreviated to ‘blimp’. An alternative explanation is that on 5 December 1915, Commander A. D. Cunningham, R.N. of the Capel-Le-Ferne Air Ship Station, flicked the envelope of the airship SS.12 with his fingers during an inspection, which produced a sound that he mimicked and pronounced as ‘blimp'; and that the word then caught on as the nickname for all small non-rigid airships.[3]
The onomatopoeic derivation, as the sound the airship makes when one taps the envelope (balloon) with a finger, has been recorded in the British Aeronautical Journal.[4]
