Blitz

Blitz has become a noun and a verb in English, used to refer to a rapid campaign or assault, usually one that totally takes care of a task. This can mean a sudden, overwhelming military attack, or more commonly, a fast and concerted campaign to achieve something or overcome something.   A media blitz or advertising blitz, for example, means a big, coordinated effort to flood the media with the desired message at the desired time.

Blitz means lightning in German, with all the expected connotations of speediness.  The compound word Blitzkrieg means  literally “lightning war”  or “lightning warfare” and referred to a second world war German tactic of extremely fast mechanised and aerial assault to take large amounts of  territory from an enemy. Consequently the English term “the Blitz” or “during the Blitz” is still widely used to refer to the period of sustained bombing raids on London during that war. Interestingly, in the case of London the word blitz refers to a lengthy campaign that did not result in loss of territory or surrender.  The term is also used in American football for a particular attack move by defensive players.

In informal speech getting blitzed can mean getting intoxicated with drink or drugs, as in the title of a well-researched  book about the Third Reich’s extensive use of stimulants such as amphetamines, Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany by Norman Ohler. Nowadays, to blitz something is sometimes used in a culinary context, especially in the USA:  recipe directions may say “blitz all ingredients together in a blender to make a smoothie”.