verb chopper

[ostap77]

"US army is choppering an Afghan national, suspected appendicitis."

Would it be standard English to say "chopper someone" to mean "transport someone by chopper"?

 

[SoothingDave]

It's understandable. Whether that use is in the dictionary, I can't say.

I think you mean "appendicitis," a medical condition.

 

[billmcd]

"US army is choppering an Afgan national, suspected appendicitist."

Would it be standart English to say "chopper someone" to mean "transport someone by chopper"?

Chopper, of course, is a common term of military origin that refers to a helicopter, but I have never seen the term 'choppering' used and until I read your question I had no idea what it meant. Your spelling of 'appendicitis' with the "t" suffix didn't help either. In answer to your question, "to chopper someone" is certainly acceptable, but a more definitive context would be necessary lest the phrase "chopper someone" could be considered a form of mutilation.

 

[ostap77]

It's understandable. Whether that use is in the dictionary, I can't say.

I think you mean "appendicitis," a medical condition.

I heard it in a TV coverage about Afghanistan.I was looking it up in a dictionary. Couldn't find the definition of the verb "choper".

 

[SoothingDave]

The fact that the US Army is the subject of the sentence helps provide the context for the verb "chopper." I would think it needs an "into" or "out," as in "they choppered him out of the area."

I think it's more jargon than standard English.

 

[billmcd]

I heard it in a TV coverage about Afghanistan.I was looking it up in a dictionary. Couldn't find the definition of the verb "chopper".

Chopper is listed in my Webster's.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's used in medical dramas too (on TV). In ER, for instance, there was a helipad (a landing place for helicopters) on the roof and they would say things like "Serious injury expected in 5 minutes. They're choppering him in" to mean they are bringing him by helicopter. It would normally be followed by "in" or "out" to show the direction of travel.

 

[Tdol]

How about airlift?

 

[SoothingDave]

Would you believe "medevac"?

Medevac - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary