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In reply to the discussion: Police 'Tank' Purchase Riles New Hampshire Town [View all]Johnny Rico
(1,438 posts)That was then. This is now. Definitions of words change over time. Let's look at the definition of the word at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility and tactical offensive and defensive capabilities. Firepower is normally provided by a large-calibre main gun in a rotating turret and secondary machine guns, while heavy armour and all-terrain mobility provide protection for the tank and its crew, allowing it to perform all primary tasks of the armoured troops on the battlefield.
In the context of storage, a water tank is indeed a tank, yes. However, in the context of armoured vehicles, APCs, tracked artillery, tank destroyers, etc., are not tanks. If, as you assert, most people use the term "tank" to describe these vehicles (and I suspect that they do), then most people are simply wrong. They would be just as wrong if they described a destroyer as a "battleship" or a SIG 522 as a "machine gun".
Perhaps in 2112 there will be a new definition of this word...but this is the definition now.