Flak vs Flake - What's the difference?
flak | flake |
Ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells.
* 1964 , David John Cawdell Irving, The Destruction of Dresden ,
* 2007 , Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Retreat to the Reich: The German Defeat in France, 1944 , footnote,
Anti-aircraft shell fire.
* 1943 November 29, Target: Germany'', in '' ,
* 1999 , Brian O'Neill, Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer ,
(figuratively, informal) Adverse criticism.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=December 10
, author=Marc Higginson
, title=Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa
, work=BBC Sport
* 1990 , Joel H. Spring, The American School, 1642-1990 ,
(informal) A public-relations spokesperson.
* 2006 , , A Propaganda Model'', in 2006 [2001], Meenakshi Gigi Durham, Douglas Kellner (editors), ''Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks , revised edition,
A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything; a film; flock; lamina; layer; scale; as, a flake of snow, paint, or fish.
(archaeology) A prehistoric tool chipped out of stone.
(informal) A person who is impractical, flighty, unreliable, or inconsistent; especially with maintaining a living.
A carnation with only two colours in the flower, the petals having large stripes.
To break or chip off in a flake.
(colloquial) To prove unreliable or impractical; to abandon or desert, to fail to follow through.
(technical) To store an item such as rope in layers
(Ireland, slang) to hit (another person).
(UK) Dogfish.
(Australia) The meat of the gummy shark.
* 1999 , R. Shotton, , Case studies of the management of elasmobranch fisheries , Part 1,
* 2007 , Archie Gerzee, WOW! Tales of a Larrikin Adventurer ,
* 2007 , Lyall Robert Ford, 101 ways to Improve Your Health ,
(UK, dialect) A paling; a hurdle.
A platform of hurdles, or small sticks made fast or interwoven, supported by stanchions, for drying codfish and other things.
* English Husbandman
(nautical) A small stage hung over a vessel's side, for workmen to stand on while calking, etc.
In informal terms the difference between flak and flake
is that flak is a public-relations spokesperson while flake is a person who is impractical, flighty, unreliable, or inconsistent; especially with maintaining a living.As nouns the difference between flak and flake
is that flak is ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells while flake is a loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything; a film; flock; lamina; layer; scale; as, a flake of snow, paint, or fish.As a verb flake is
to break or chip off in a flake.flak
English
(wikipedia flak)Alternative forms
* flack (adverse criticism and spokesperson senses)Noun
page 74,
- to consider whether the city was in February 1945 an undefended city within the meaning of the 1907 Hague Convention, it will be necessary to examine the establishment and subsequent total dispersal of the city's flak batteries, before the date of the triple blow.
page 30,
- He was promoted to general of flak' artillery on March 1, 1945, and ended the war as the general of the ' flak arm at OKL, the High Command of the Luftwaffe.
page 80,
- ''At 1057 we were just over the islands and at 1100 the tail gunner reported flak at six o'clock, below.
page 118,
- I could hear the fragments from the flak shells hitting the plane like someone throwing rocks at it.
citation, page= , passage=Alex McLeish, perhaps mindful of the flak he has been taking from sections of the Villa support for a perceived negative style of play, handed starts to wingers Charles N'Zogbia and Albrighton.}}
page 380,
- This filter Herman and Chomsky call “flak',” which refers to letters, speeches, phone calls, and other forms of group and individual complaints. Advertisers and broadcasters avoid programming content that might cause large volumes of ' flak .
page 277,
- AIM head, Reed Irvine's diatribes are frequently published, and right-wing network flaks who regularly assail the “liberal media,” such as Michael Ledeen, are given Op-ed column space, sympathetic reviews, and a regular place on talk shows as experts.
Synonyms
* AAA, triple-A * ack-ackSee also
* flak jacket ----flake
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- There were a few flakes of paint on the floor from when we were painting the walls.
- flakes of dandruff
- She makes pleasant conversation, but she's kind of a flake when it comes time for action.
Verb
- The paint flaked off after only a year.
- He said he'd come and help, but he flaked .
- The line is flaked into the container for easy attachment and deployment.
Derived terms
* flake off * flake outEtymology 2
A name given to dogfish to improve its marketability as a food, perhaps from etymology 1.Noun
(-)page 746,
- Larger shark received about 10%/kg less than those in the 4-6 kg range. Most of the Victorian landed product is wholesaled as carcasses on the Melbourne Fish Market where it is sold to fish and chip shops, the retail sector and through restaurants as ‘flake ’.
page 141,
- The local fish shop sold a bit of flake (shark) but most people were too spoiled to eat shark. The main item on the Kiwi table was still snapper, and there was plenty of them, caught by the Kiwis themselves, so no shortage whatsoever.
page 45,
- Until recently, deep-sea fish were considered to have insignificant levels of mercury but even these now contain higher levels than they used to, so you should also avoid the big fish like tuna, swordfish, and flake (shark) that are highest up the food chain.
Etymology 3
Compare Icelandic flaki''?, ''fleki''?, Danish ''flage'', Dutch ''vlaak .Noun
(en noun)- You shall also, after they be ripe, neither suffer them to have straw nor fern under them, but lay them either upon some smooth table, boards, or flakes of wands, and they will last the longer.