Hunting around for the origin of the phrase weapon of mass destruction turns up many references in the early 1960s - all of which are nuclear or biological.
Sticking with Google I finally came across some pre-WWII references. The term may have been in use, but the earliest reference I found was from the December 28, 1937 London Times. Talking about the aerial bombing of cities ...
Who can think without horror of what another widespread war would mean, waged as it would be with all the new weapons of mass destruction?
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A phrase that has bothered me on and off for some time is by and large.
It turns out to have a nautical origin -- sailing by the wind is to as sail as directly into the wind as possible. A large wind comes from the stern and tends to fill the large rear sail on a square rigger (a better wind comes from the rear at a slight angle and fills all of the sails). So a ship that sails well by as well as large will sail well in all directions.
8:36:36 AM 
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