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Just out of curiosity (I'm a non-native speaker): Is there a difference between flak and flack? Are these regional variants, maybe a US/UK thing? Would you us

• giaour 5y ago
  "Flak" (meaning an anti-aircraft gun or shrapnel therefrom) can also be spelled "flack." The phrase "taking flack" is either a literal or metaphorical use of this meaning. A flack (never spelled without a c) is a public relations or press agent, and to flack is to promote something (or otherwise do the work of a flack).
• freedomben 5y ago
  Oops sorry, I started a reply and got sidetracked and didn't finish! Yes sibling comment is correct, no difference other than spelling between flak and flack. Sounds like flak is more common. It's a common idiom (at least in the US), especially regarding anything remotely political, about having multiple people "target" a person who says something they disagree with. Especially common if person A does or says something and then a bunch of news outlets/pundits criticize them for it, it's said that they're "taking flak" for whatever they did. An important note, the expression itself does not make a value judgment or convey any sort of "right" or "wrong" or good/evil on either party. You can "take flak" for saying stupid stuff, and you can "take flak" for speaking the truth in the empire of lies [1]. [1] A refernce to Orwell's quote: "Truth is treason in the empire of lies"