kamikaze(n.)
“自杀飞行员”,1945年,源自日本语,字面意义是“神之风”,由kami“神、天意”(参见kami)+ kaze“风”组成。据说最初是民间传说中的一个名称,指的是一个台风,此台风曾在1281年8月摧毁忽必烈的舰队,从而拯救了日本,避免了蒙古侵略。第二次世界大战中的神风特攻队攻击始于1944年10月在菲律宾。作为形容词使用则始于1946年。
As an aside, at war's end, the Japanese had, by actual count, a total of 16,397 aircraft still available for service, including 6,374 operational fighters and bombers, and if they had used only the fighters and bombers for kamikaze missions, they might have realized, additionally, 900 ships sunk or damaged and 22,000 sailors killed or injured. In fact, however, the Japanese had outfitted many aircraft, including trainers, as potential suicide attackers. As intelligence estimates indicated, the Japanese believed they could inflict at least 50,000 casualties to an invasion force by kamikaze attacks alone. [Richard P. Hallion, "Military Technology and the Pacific War," 1995]
另外,在战争结束时,日本实际上还有总共16,397架飞机可供使用,包括6,374架作战用的战斗机和轰炸机。如果他们仅使用这些战斗机和轰炸机执行kamikaze任务,他们可能还能造成额外的900艘船只被击沉或损坏以及22,000名水兵死亡或受伤。事实上,日本却改装了许多飞机(包括教练机)作为潜在的自杀攻击者。正如情报估计所指出的,日本人相信他们能仅凭kamikaze攻击就对入侵军队造成至少50,000人的伤亡。[Richard P. Hallion,《军事技术与太平洋战争》,1995年]
该词起源时间:1945年