411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
Co-op mix
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
English
Etymology
en Relates to the Co-op brand of stores and supermarkets; but some sources say it's because of the everyday ingredients, and others because first used to blow up a Co-op store.
Noun
- Co-op mix
en UK Ireland A mixture of sodium chlorate and nitrobenzene used in making improvised bombs during The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
en 1985 Desmond Hamill Pig in the Middle: The Army in Northern Ireland, 1969-1984 198 We found one once, 550lbs of Co-Op mix — and we found the firing position, on our side of the border. So I stood on this bloody thing
en 2008 A. R. Oppenheimer IRA, The Bombs and the Bullets: A History of Deadly Ingenuity Disrupting Co-op mix devices by burning off the mixture by the use of low-velocity bullets proved ineffective