McNuke

English edit

Etymology edit

Mc- +‎ nuke; a McDonaldsesque rendering of the word nuke to imply its ubiquitous and unconditional availability.

Noun edit

McNuke (plural McNukes)

(humorous, informal) A hypothetical, commercially available nuclear bomb.
- 1999 October 15, no...@house.gov, “1999CRH10036B EVERYBODY HAS NUKES”, in gov.us.fed.congress.record.house‎^[1] (Usenet):
  Everybody has nukes. It is so bad, reports now say that McDonald's is
  developing the McNuke.
- 2000 April 19, Terry C. Shannon, “French Heros^[sic] Strike Blow Against McDonalds^[sic]”, in alt.activism.death-penalty‎^[2] (Usenet):
  Well, even though I am an evil Amerikan retentionistae, I have to admit that
  the thought of a McNuked McFoodstand is delightful indeed. One down, about
  five thousand to go...
- 2005 May 22, LarryG, “Sky & Telescope's News Bulletin - May 20”, in sci.astro‎^[3] (Usenet):
  Smooth thinking, Rich! Perhaps a few dozen Russian nuclear scientist can
  go to work for Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, or Argentina if McDonalds^[sic]
  stops taking applications. Just think, the McNuke! You want fries with
  that?
- 2018 November 7, fundraisi...@lpcolorado.org, “Fwd: Angry Letter to Libertarian Party - Where the F*** are you?”, in LPCO-open-business‎^[4] (Usenet):
  This is precisely the type of discussion we need to have. There is "gun control" and there is "gun control." A strong case - which I made repeatedly and successfully - can be made for the right of self-defense through gun ownership. Going from this to an absolute refusal to even discuss things like red flags, large capacity mags, bump stocks...not to mention automatic weapons, RPGs, McNukes...means an end of discussion for a huge number of people. This is what he means by "pragmatic."

Usage notes edit

Usually evoked as an argument or thought experiment in the context of the limits of individual freedoms.