IMFDB policy on Russkie rockets.

[PersonOfInterest]

Found this little gem while doing the rounds.

[Nyles]

While obviously not all anti-tank weapons or grenade launchers are RPGs, I think calling an RPG-7 a rocket propelled grenade launcher is a total non-issue. An RPG literally is a rocket propelled grenade launcher, that's what it does. Foreign weapons are part of my job, and I can tell you that in US, British and Canadian weapons pams, that's how they're described. The point here is to be understood.

The same with using NATO reporting names for Soviet weapons systems. That's the commonly accepted name in the West, even among professionals. Why use a name no one will recognize? Just to prove how much smarter you are than your reader? That accomplishes nothing.

Using the official term for a weapon is alot less common than you probably realize. The M1 Garand is actually the "US Rifle, Cal .30, M1". The Winchester 97 Trench Gun is actually the "US Combat Riot Shotgun M1917 (Winchester)". Non US-military Colt 1911s are actually the Colt Government Model. Where does it end? Should we start writing it out in Cyrillic too?

[Markost]

I agree with Nyles, keep the western names and please don´t edit them.

[PersonOfInterest]

I'd have to disagree with you both. The purpose of the site is to inform and educate. Wrong is wrong, no matter how many people believe it to be right. We are here to dispel myth and would not allow other silly notions to be held as true.

[Alcatrazz]

The last thing we want is a civil war. We need consensus.

[PersonOfInterest]

Originally Posted by Nyles

An RPG literally is a rocket propelled grenade launcher, that's what it does.

Technically the warhead is propelled by a gunpowder charge, the rocket motor is a secondary device that engages once the warhead is already in motion.

Originally Posted by Nyles

Why use a name no one will recognize? Just to prove how much smarter you are than your reader? That accomplishes nothing.

Nothing other than to educate the populace of what is factually true, just like every other tidbit of knowledge on this site.

Originally Posted by Nyles

Where does it end? Should we start writing it out in Cyrillic too?

It ends here because I can't think of any possible reason to extend this argument to anything else. It really is an isolated case. "Rocket Propelled Grenade" entered the lexicon due to somebody's ignorance and unwillingess to do the bare minimum of research and has stuck in the collective conciousness along with all the other misinformation about about kinetic energy, magazine capacity, and terminal ballistics.

[S&Wshooter]

Originally Posted by PersonOfInterest

Nothing other than to educate the populace of what is factually true, just like every other tidbit of knowledge on this site.

The average eejit is going to say "tl;dr" and keep on calling it a Rocket Propelled Grenade

[Excalibur]

I have never heard anyone say DONT call an RPG a Rocket Propell Grenade. Guys I know in the military calls them that.

In the context of "rocket-propelled grenades", RPG is a transliteration of , the Russian РПГ or ручной противотанковый гранатомёт transliterated as "ruchnoy protivotankoviy granatomyot", which translates to the English phrase "hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher". Thus rocket-propelled grenade is a backronym and makes sense.

[S&Wshooter]

Originally Posted by Excalibur

I have never heard anyone say DONT call an RPG a Rocket Propell Grenade. Guys I know in the military calls them that.

In the context of "rocket-propelled grenades", RPG is a transliteration of , the Russian РПГ or ручной противотанковый гранатомёт transliterated as "ruchnoy protivotankoviy granatomyot", which translates to the English phrase "hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher". Thus rocket-propelled grenade is a backronym and makes sense.

End of discussion. Excalibur wins the internet

[PersonOfInterest]

Originally Posted by S&Wshooter

End of discussion. Excalibur wins the internet

Umm, no. Backronyms, by their definition, are incorrect.

Originally Posted by Excalibur

I have never heard anyone say DONT call an RPG a Rocket Propell Grenade. Guys I know in the military calls them that.

In the context of "rocket-propelled grenades", RPG is a transliteration of , the Russian РПГ or ручной противотанковый гранатомёт transliterated as "ruchnoy protivotankoviy granatomyot", which translates to the English phrase "hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher". Thus rocket-propelled grenade is a backronym and makes sense.

You are using the word "transliteration" improperly, you win nothing.