I read an article about language watchers who are finding irony in VP Joe Biden's work with gun control. They are saying that he's "shooting for" a specific deadline, while warning that "no silver bullet" exists. That led to an interview with the University of Chicago history professor who came up with lots of gun examples, such as:

stick to one's guns
under the gun
half-cocked
shoot the breeze
troubleshoot
under fire
miss the mark
miss the target
big gun
son of a gun
young gun

Are there any more that you can come up with?

I think some of the above predate firearms, and/or don't relate to them. "Troubleshoot?" Hmmmmm...

Gun the engine
In (his/her/its) sights
Top gun

Shoot off your mouth (or your foot)
Staight-shooter
Shoot-em-up
Take a pot-shot (defame someone)
Turkey shoot
Give [something] a shot
Lock, stock and barrel
Take a shotgun approach
Within ear (or eye) shot
To be all shot (tired)
bite the bullet
Ram-rod stiff

Good ones, guys! I knew we'd do better than that University of Chicago professor!

Geoff, I was wondering, too, if some of these (like "troubleshoot") were unrelated to guns.

Well, shoot predates the invention of the the firearm. It originally meant to 'to cast a missile' or 'to hit somebody with a missile'. Seems missile' has changed, too. It also had meanings like 'to give help to a person', 'to move rapidly, dart, run, plunge, rush' (both of living things andnon-living).

[i]Gun is from a woman's name: Middle English gonne 'cannon' < Gunilda woman's name applied to a siege engine < Old Norse Gunnhildr woman's name (< gunnr 'war' (< PIE *gwhen-) + hildr 'war').

And no doubt the Norse man's name Gunnar?

Torpedoes have changed too. They used to be torpid, as the name suggests. Nowadays we call such torpid explosives mines.

Now y'all keep your powder dry! (From black powder days)

Don't be the butt of a joke (butt being the back end of the stock, but predates firearms)

He's a real pistol!

We use bullets when typing fancy reports.

Cartridge: a single round of ammunition. (TV viewers think it's called a bullet)

Bull's eye: Center of a target

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Geoff,

Admiral Dewey, when he said "Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead," wasn't concerned with the one's fired from a sub. He was worried about the mines outside Manila Harbor when he attacked the Spanish fleet at anchor.

Sort of like when you grab a woman and say "Now you're mine," and she explodes.

I think that was Farragut, not Dewey. Dewey was a philosopher who invented library cataloguing.

quote:

I think that was Farragut, not Dewey. Dewey was a philosopher who invented library cataloguing.

My error. Farragut made the comment. Dewey was in command.
link

They sent a librarian to war with Manila envelopes? Now I'm ALL confused!

Possibly apocryphal Mae West quote: "Is that a pistol in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?"

Annnnnd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGpS6LHeBC0

They sent a librarian to war with Manila envelopes?

George, not Melvil.

Oh, that 'splains it - I think...

Is a muzzle-loader a rifle or musket, or is it a dog who snorts cocaine?

Is a muzzle-loader a rifle or musket

Either can be.

I love that Mae West quote, Geoff!