Security blanket

Photo of author

Grammarist

The term security blanket has been in use since the 1940s, and the origin of this phrase may be surprising. We will examine the definition of the term security blanket, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.

A security blanket is a small piece of fabric that a child uses for comfort. Probably the most famous depiction of the use of a security blanket is in the comic strip Peanuts, drawn by Charles Schulz. In the strip, a character known as Linus is never seen without his security blanket. The term security blanket is also used figuratively to mean a source of support or comfort. Interestingly, the term security blanket was originally used as an American military term in the 1940s, to mean the measures taken to keep military plans out of the hands of the enemy and to preserve secrecy. By the 1950s the term security blanket was applied to an actual comfort item for children, and soon after in the 1960s, it also took on a figurative meaning.

Examples

A lot of weirdness around Trump and Russia, I argued, had a more normal explanation — he had made business deals with Russians, he still harbors a 1980s-era vision of superpower cooperation, and as a foreign-policy neophyte he clutched the idea of détente like a security blanket even as the Russians separately made moves to help him win. (The New York Times)

NATO remains Europe’s security blanket, with the United States as the top gun and the Europeans as the ranch hands who sign up for foreign military interventions a la carte, the way sheriffs once rounded up cowboys. (Gant Daily)

Georgia has underachieved as a preseason favorite before, but the return of star running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel should provide a nice security blanket for sophomore quarterback Jacob Eason. (The Courier-Journal)