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a.

Introduction: The Modern Blockbuster

The kind of movie that's supposed to be a huge hit and dominate the box office."

b.

The Original Blockbuster - A Weapon of War

"During World War II, the term 'block-buster' was coined by war journalists. It was a literal, and terrifying, description."

"It referred to a type of aerial bomb so powerful and destructive that it was capable of destroying an entire city block."

c.

The Cultural Shift - From Battlefields to Theaters

After the war, the word began to be used metaphorically. Anything that had a huge, sensational impact could be called a 'blockbuster'.

In the 1940s and 50s, you might read about a 'blockbuster novel' or a 'blockbuster news story'.

It's a metaphor for commercial and cultural dominance.

d.

The Blockbuster Era and Its Legacy

The term shifted from just describing a successful film to describing a specific type of film: high-concept, high-budget, and designed for mass appea.

Box Office Smash: A direct synonym for a huge financial success.

e.

The Modern Implosion - Streaming and the Future

The term has taken on new layers. A 'blockbuster' can now refer to a massive streaming release that captures global attention, like a season of Stranger Things.

Hi everyone and welcome back to 【It Means What?】. Hi 安澜.

Hi Lulu, hi everyone.

欢迎回来【词源考古研究所】.

In this segment, 安澜 and I will dig deeper into the origin of some of the most common words, phrases, idioms and really get to the bottom of their origin story.

Yes.

So what is the word for today?

Today the word is Blockbuster.

Have you been watching films lately?

I have been watching quite a few films and also on Netflix at the moment, the last series of Stranger Things has come out.

You still following that?

I'm still following that.

I’ve lost interest in Season 4.

Season 4 was okay, it was not great, but  you know, it is the last ever series, so I would like to see that.

I  mean,when it first came out, it definitely was a blockbuster.

Yes.

Which means just a very big and very popular, hugely trending work of arts like films, TV series, books.

Precisely.

大制作, 就是这个大篇大作品.

But have you ever really thought about the word itself?

The word sounds explosive, it sounds like explosion.

Partly yeah, but block and buster, so as in a city block and buster as in sort of destroy.

City block就是一个街区。

Uh-huh

一个区块, 一个街区. So was the origin really in weapon, explosion and war?

It comes from the Second World War.

Ah.

So during the Second World War, the term blockbuster was created by war journalists to describe a type of bomb that was so powerful and so destructive that it could destroy an entire city block.

Oh, so block buster.

Yes.

Once they drop that bomb, it's going to destroy the entire block. By the way, for those of you who don't know what a block is, it’s basically between two... like main roads that is like a block, isn’t it?

Yeah, between basically you have four roads and all the buildings inside the area is considered a block.

The square.

Yes.

从一个街口走到另外一个街口中间的那一块就叫一个block.That's a massive area if you think about the extent of the destruction.

Well, yeah. These type of bombs were used a lot against Germany and also against Japan. But the thing is that nowadays we don't really think about those because they've all been overshadowed by the atomic bomb.

Emm. I see, I see, of couse. But that's very dark though, the word that was used to describe massive destruction weapon now is used for family entertainment?

Well,yeah.That's because it quickly entered the public vocabulary and it became a synonym for something of immense power and impact. So strangely, it then went into entertainment.

You say strangely, it's not that strange because when we say something is really impactful, we also say it's explosive.

Well, yeah.

You do say爆炸性新闻, in Chinese we say the same.

Well, yeah. So for example, after the Second World War, journalists started using the word or term blockbuster novel or blockbuster news story.

So it's not just blockbuster movie.

Well, yeah. But it’s really in the 1960s and 1970s, it started to be used for movies a lot more. And one of the main films that really kind of created this modern use of the word blockbuster was Steven Spielberg’s  Jaws.

《大白鲨》是吧, about the shark?

Yeah, because the way that it was so popular, its success was so huge.It destroyed all the previous box office records.

That was unprecedented box office records.

Yeah.

就是属于一个票房, 一个爆炸性的、破记录的一个存在, I guess that was the beginning of what they call the blockbuster era.

Well yeah. So you might think it's a bit strange that we keep using words about destruction.

Uh-huh.

or like it destroys the competition, it completely destroys box office records. But if you think about it, lots of terms in English related to success is often tied to warfare and destruction. So you think about business English, lots of the terms come from war.

I guess so, and I do feel like there's one exception because when you talk about it being explosive—a blockbuster— you're saying it’s a huge success, hugely impactful. But if you talk about a stand up comedian, 如果你说脱口秀的话, 你说someone bombed on the stage, that means they...that was a huge disaster.

Well, exactly.

就是喜剧演员, 就是脱口秀演员演砸了叫They bomed.

Yeah.

That joke bombed.

Precisely.

But either way you use that to describe entertainment business. Right?

Yeah.

So am I to understand blockbuster is not just successful, impactful, but it's also kind of like the big production like the high budget designed for appealing to the masses.

Well, yeah. So you talk about the summer blockbuster, so for example, like a few years ago like Oppenheimer 《奥本海默》and Barbie《芭比》. So those were summer blockbusters.

Ah.

And they became box office smash.

Smash is another way of saying destroying things.

Precisely,yeah. So a huge financial success.

Similar word, box office hit.

Yes.

不管是hit, smash都有点打击和摧毁的意思,但在这里都是指的their huge success in terms of box office.

Yes.

But nowadays it's not just blockbuster films. It’s also like you said Stranger Things that's a web series那是网剧, TV series, web series on streaming services, they can also be called blockbuster.

Well yeah, so Stranger Things as an example is a massive streaming release that captures a lot of global attention. But ironically, when we think about blockbuster nowadays in the English speaking world, we think about a very famous company called Blockbuster Video.

I'm too young to know that.

Really?

So I've done my research, Blockbuster Video is about video rental.

Yes.

那个时候还是租那种录像带的时代, 我真没有赶上那个时代啊,安澜你赶上了吧?

So... for all of you children out there who are far too young to understand the concept.

Yeah.

In the past, there was something called videos.

Video tapes.

Video tapes. Now these were big tapes that you had to store. And a company called Blockbuster Video allowed you to borrow these videos for a few days.

To rent.

To rent. So you could take them home, watch the video and then bring it back.

Unfortunately, as you might imagine, the once very popular rental market went away because of all the modern technology, nobody rents anymore, nobody even knows what video tapes are anymore. So the company ultimately went bust.

Yeah.

Busted.

They were busted by new technology because nowadays you don't need to go to a particular place to borrow a DVD or to borrow a video.

Or even download. Now you just stream.

You just stream.

Interesting, so  from a literal weapon of destruction, this blockbuster morphed into a metaphor for massive success, to business strategy, even to a cautionary tale about business disruption.

Well, yeah. But the thing is that this is quite a nostalgic word because I don't think really blockbusters exist in the same way anymore, because we have so many different types of entertainment. The idea of one film becoming so popular that everybody watches, everyone is talking about is quite an old fashioned idea really when you think about it.

Before I guess people used to really really wait for the release of a blockbuster film, they would wait in line trying to get a ticket. But nowadays you hear another blockbuster coming to town and you're like meh~

Exactly. And it's even some of the big films that are coming out at the moment.You only have to wait maybe a few weeks, and then....

You can stream it.

You can stream it.

Yeah. So before we end today's discussion, 安澜, let me ask you, are you someone who's into blockbuster works, like films, TV.

It depends on the type of blockbuster. For example, I really like films like Oppenheimer, Barbie? Less so.

Barbie is not ..You're not the target audience.

No, no. So I actually quite like the historical blockbusters, I love historical films, I love epic films.

Uh-huh.

But other types of films, surprising enough, I don't like superhero films that much. I'm not really interested in those.

It's strange because a lot of the superheroes they look a bit nerdy like you before the turn.

Charming. But what about you?

Well, you know me, I used to brand myself as someone who is rejecting all the blockbuster films. I was into like art house, indie .

Of course you are.

Yeah, I've become older. I'm okay with blockbuster now.

Come on! I've seen you watch Jurassic World and Jurassic Park again and again and again.

That’s a great franchise. Although the latest Jurassic World was atrocious.

I think you've been saying for the past five Jurassic worlds.

That was not Jurassic franchise, but anyhow, leave us a comment in the comment section. Do you like blockbuster films or TV series or books or any of other blockbuster works and also put in your request for any other words that you want us to dive into in this segment.

So until next time,

We'll see you next time.

Bye

Bye.