attack helicopter

attack helicopter (plural attack helicopters)

1. (military) An armed helicopter with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles, and fortifications. [from 1950s]

   Hypernym: attack aircraft

2. (neologism, Internet slang, humorous, derogatory, offensive) A fictitious gender assigned or suggested in quips, used to dismiss non-binary gender identities, and sometimes also transness in general. [from 2014]
   • 2018, Mark Dice, Liberalism: Find a Cure, Mark Dice, →ISBN:

     […] but that wasn't “inclusive” enough, so now the gender listing isn't a checkbox with either “male” or “female” — it's a fill-in-the-blank where you can list anything from peanut butter to an attack helicopter as your gender. […]

   • 2019, Sam Hope, Person-Centred Counselling for Trans and Gender Diverse People: A Practical Guide, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 59:

     'I identify as an attack helicopter' is a regular dismissal of non-binary identities; hearing this can be a weekly occurrence. The support of other non-binary people and bibliotherapy of good non-binary sources can be a remedy to this.

   • 2019, Andrew Mackay, The Hunger Diaries, or: How to Lose Weight Fasting and Eating Well, Chrome Valley Books:

     […] going to be spending a fair amount of time waiting like a twit in a cosmetic store while your wife / girlfriend / cis-gender / attack helicopter reads every damn label on every damn blusher, or pillar of lipstick, or whatever it is.

• one joke