telecopter means A helicopter used by a television news channel to gather footage. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
Etymology
Blend of tele- + helicopter.
noun
- A helicopter used by a television news channel to gather footage.“The angle came from a helicopter—KTLA-TV’s “telecopter” was the first of its kind. The utility of the Korean War–vintage Bell 47G-5 with the camera affixed to its belly had so far been mostly prurient: shots of the swimming pool where Marlon Brando’s maid had drowned; of the well that swallowed a darling little girl; of movie stars’ mansions being devoured by brush fires in the Hollywood hills.”