A Crash Course in Crash Courses

You know the expression "crash course"? It means a class you take quickly to get the basics down. For example, if you were traveling to Mexico, you might take a crash course in Spanish. That way you could communicate with the locals. Anyway, I always assumed that this term originated from aviation, when someone would have to take a crash course in flying. I realized recently that this is totally ridiculous. Who would learn flying in a crash course? Launchpad McQuack, that's who.