Why military tanks are called "tanks"

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Winston

Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank#Etymology

Etymology

The word tank was first applied to the British "landships" in 1915, before they entered service, to keep their nature secret.

Origins

On 24 December 1915, a meeting took place of the [British] Inter-Departmental Conference. Its purpose was to discuss the progress of the plans for what were described as "Caterpillar Machine Gun Destroyers or Land Cruisers."

In his autobiography, Albert Gerald Stern, Secretary to the Landships Committee, later head of the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, says that at that meeting, "Mr. (Thomas J.) Macnamara, M.P., and Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty, then suggested, for secrecy's sake, to change the title of the Landships Committee. Mr. d'Eyncourt agreed that it was very desirable to retain secrecy by all means, and proposed to refer to the vessel as a 'Water Carrier'".

"In Government offices, committees and departments are always known by their initials. For this reason I, as Secretary, considered the proposed title totally unsuitable." (The initials W.C. are a British abbreviation for a water closet; in other words, a toilet.)

"In our search for a synonymous term, we changed the word 'Water Carrier' to 'Tank,' and became the 'Tank Supply' or 'T.S.' Committee. That is how these weapons came to be called Tanks," and he incorrectly added, "and the name has now been adopted by all countries in the world."

Unfortunately, later in the War, a number of Mk IV Tanks were fitted with grapnels to remove barbed wire. They were designated "Wire Cutters" and had the large letters "W.C." painted on their rear armour.
 
If I called it a "Caterpillar Machine Gun Destroyer", could I get my HOA to let me park it on the street?
 
If I called it a "Caterpillar Machine Gun Destroyer", could I get my HOA to let me park it on the street?
Paint it yellow and put a big fat CAT logo on it. And a bulldozer blade. I bet no one would notice.
 
Foster farm tractor company designed and built the first tanks in Lincoln, England. The brainstorming session was held in a hotel offsite from the factory... which would later be called a "think tank" approach to the design. ;) "Tank" was also slang for a prison cell... and "Think Tank" was used when R&D labs locked up their group in a room until they came up with a solution. It was good motivation not to "tank".
 
Paint it yellow and put a big fat CAT logo on it. And a bulldozer blade. I bet no one would notice.
Actually some US tanks were fitted with bulldozer blades during the Southeast Asian Wargsmes.

Did I ever mention that I had a military drivers license for the M60 tank and the M577 armored personnel carrier? Also drove the M578 and M88 light and heavy armored recovery vehicles. Why? Recovery drivers were issued an M3 grease gun and a 1911 carried in a shoulder holster (both in .45 ACP caliber). The coolness factor to a 22 year old kid was intense..
 
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