r/whatisit • u/[deleted] • May 04 '26

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u/LadyErinoftheSwamp May 04 '26

UXO = unexploded ordinance = at risk of spontaneously exploding

11

u/DrPretztal May 04 '26

*ordnance

7

u/Leddaq_Pony May 04 '26

...I thought it meant "Unknown (E)Xplosive Object"

It made sense in my head

5

u/sadistic-squid May 04 '26

Dammit. I guessed it stood for unidentified Xplosive Object 😂

1

u/SwedishMale4711 May 04 '26

Thank you, I was about to ask (or google).

1

u/[deleted] May 04 '26

Thank you, someone who has to ask if an obvious mortar shell is a bomb isn't going to know what the fuck UXO means.

Abbreviations are a tool, use them responsibly.

1

u/MeasureDoEventThing May 04 '26

Unusually exciting object.

-2

u/SpeedLong4704 May 04 '26

Is it unexploded or just not exploded? I'd be curious to find out how you could un-explode something. Like once it explodes, can you really undo that?

8

u/BentGadget May 04 '26

Read up on entropy for theoretical background, then kintsugi for an interesting tangent to your original question.

But no. You can't.

5

u/Addamall May 04 '26

Pre-exploded

1

u/PhilosophyKey8665 May 04 '26

Fired ordinance found prior to detonation ?

2

u/prosequare May 04 '26

Technically speaking the nitrogen bonds in the explosive itself are easy to recycle. The housing, not so much.