Talk:Blockbuster bomb

The kind of block being busted...

The article atm: "The term Blockbuster was originally a name coined by the press and referred to a bomb which had enough explosive power to destroy an entire city block." I'm not sure that's accurate. I believe the term block referred to a tower block or 'block of flats', ie a single building rather than a neighbourhood. Hakluyt bean (talk) 23:16, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

eg here. When you think about it if the first "block buster" bombs could have destroyed a 'city block' whole cities would have been flattened in short order. The meaning presumably was single large building or block (row) of houses. Hakluyt bean (talk) 23:48, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

You might be reading too much into a name, especially one purported to be the product of the wartime press. What a blockbuster was actually capable of doing is irrelevant to the creation of a nickname.--172.190.128.79 (talk) 20:58, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

I would like to see a citation demonstrating this "city block" meaning. Whilst not implausible, I find it unlikely: Blockbuster bombs were British, and as British cities are not built on a grid system the term "city block" is not a term commonly used. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.6.35.235 (talk) 19:34, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

I concur that "block" is common parlance in Britain to refer to a large building (block of flats, factory block, etc. Even the buildings at my school were simply named "Block 1, Block 2 and so on.) The opening paragraph would be more accurate if it referred to "entire buildings" rather than "city blocks" (a phrase unfamiliar to most speakers of British English.) Endeleus (talk) 10:23, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

A news report in German of a 4000 lb 'Cookie' being detonated in Munich recently because it was too dangerous to move it; [1]

... and one in English about the one discovered in Koblenz: [2]— Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.7.147.13 (talk) 20:05, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

Linear shaped charge?

The bit on a Blockbuster found near Koblenz, Germany, is accompanied by a photo purporting to show "a linear shaped charge placed on the casing". The object in question looks nothing like a linear shaped charge; it might be a hydraulic press used to remove the impact fuse (cf. the German figure caption) partly covered by cloth, webbing etc.--Death Bredon (talk) 09:03, 30 December 2013 (UTC)