Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

A blockbuster, in modern American English, is a runaway movie hit or perhaps a lavish Broadway production. The term implies success, or at least spectacle, on a colossal scale.

But what do spectacular performances or productions have to do with busting blocks?

This slang term, like countless others, cannot be taken literally. A look at military history reveals the original context of this term.

Blockbuster probably arose in Britain during the Second World War. The Royal Air Force employed aerial bombs large enough to destroy significant building complexes, which they called "blocks." The power of these so-called blockbuster bombs was so stunning that the style of assault was quickly transferred to a metaphorical arena, wherein something large or important had blockbuster force.

The expression surfaced in a non-military sense in the early 1940s and is now an important component of our American slang vocabulary.

The term blockbuster influenced the real estate expression "blockbusting", the practice of inducing homeowners to sell their properties at a low price, especially by exploiting fears that minority families will move into the area. Here, unscrupulous brokers have the power to "bust up" blocks of established neighborhoods.

Radio Script > Blockbuster