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?
January 30, 2013, 06:00
Geoff
I think some of the above predate firearms, and/or don't relate to them. "Troubleshoot?" Hmmmmm...
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
January 30, 2013, 10:56
arnie
Gun the engine In (his/her/its) sights Top gun
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
January 30, 2013, 19:41
<Proofreader>
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
January 30, 2013, 20:01
Kalleh
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.
January 31, 2013, 08:30
zmježd
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').
—Ceci n'est pas un seing.
January 31, 2013, 09:19
Geoff
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 targetThis message has been edited. Last edited by: Geoff,
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
January 31, 2013, 09:44
<Proofreader>
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.
January 31, 2013, 09:52
Geoff
I think that was Farragut, not Dewey. Dewey was a philosopher who invented library cataloguing.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
January 31, 2013, 12:04
<Proofreader>
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
January 31, 2013, 12:25
Geoff
They sent a librarian to war with Manila envelopes? Now I'm ALL confused!
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
January 31, 2013, 12:39
Geoff
Possibly apocryphal Mae West quote: "Is that a pistol in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?"
