Why have we come to use "torpedo" as a lively device instead of a torpid one? It screws with the etymology something fierce.

torpedo and starve

So it seems that it was applied to the electric ray, because touching it makes you numb. And then transferred to underwater projectiles because they reminded people of the fish!

Great question! Are torpedos only exploded in the water? I didn't think so.

quote:

Are torpedos only exploded in the water?

Well, although they are a water-borne missile they do sometimes jump out and hit something while in the air. They can be launched from outside the water as well, and have probably been known to explode then; but that probably isn't what you mean though as it would be by accident, not design.

Something similar is the Exocet, a type of missile that is named after a flying fish.

Interesting. I suspect those who have used torpedo to just mean launching a flying object, not in the water, are using it wrong then.