Crash Course

[diffugerenives]

I associate the term with 'crash barrier' or rather, crashing through a barrier or obstacle placed in one's way - using brute force rather than patience and hard slog. Takes less time but can be a bit scary for a brief while!

Typical modern hankering after instant success, I guess.

A crash course in English is just another name for an intensive course. But as any teacher will tell you, there aren't really any guaranteed short-cuts. What was it Macbeth said about 'vaulting ambition'...?

[otokomae]

I know this is an old post, but I just happened to stumble across it, and recently heard the possible origin of this phrase: the phrase "crash course" was used at Navy pier in Chicago to during pilot training for pilots learning to land on aircraft carriers. It was basically a pass/fail class in which, after a certain amount of training, you either landed successfully, or you crashed into Lake Michigan. This was done during WWII, so pilots had only a short time to learn before they were sent out to fight.