Phrases Related to Guns, Shooting, and Hunting in the English Language

[Speedo66]

Not sure if “He’s a loose cannon” has been mentioned.

On an old man of war ship rolling around in heavy seas, a large, heavy object like a loose cannon, unrestrained, could cause severe damage to ship and personnel.

 

[Ryden]

See the second part of the definition. An expert marksman. I am not sure which is the older usage, though.

As a nautical term it goes back to at least the 1500's
In Swedish they are called maidens, no idea why

 

[Double Naught Spy]

You and I, as well as most here on THR fully understand the difference between full automatic and semi automatic...

To the uninformed, automatic means full automatic;

Well then stop claiming the terminology is wrong when your complaint is that people don't understand the terminology. The terminology is correct.

 

[rust collector]

As a nautical term it goes back to at least the 1500's
In Swedish they are called maidens, no idea why

With a face like that you are wondering why?

I knew nothing about nautical dead eyes until you posted, so thanks for the education.

 

[whughett]

Big Guns. Patriots lost theirs. Good by #12.

 

[Ryden]

With a face like that you are wondering why?

I knew nothing about nautical dead eyes until you posted, so thanks for the education.

Well, I might have been ironic. We take the high road after all.

There at more nautical terms we can be ironic about.

This gigantic deadeye has a 'hundsvott' of rope, which is old German for a dog's (i)


I suspect that there are even more terms, after a year at sea anything might look ironic.

 

[Demi-human]

My Brass Monkeys.

But if it’s that cold, I don’t let either one out...

 

[klcmschlesinger]

I grew up in a shotgun house.

 

[Speedo66]

Not sure if "bite the bullet" has been mentioned yet.

 

[SC45-70]

"It's shot" ( when something is broken or worn out)
"Shooting the breeze"
"He's loaded" (someone with lots of money)
SC45-70

 

[Ryden]

Pull your finger out

I always thought the finger was somewhere behind me but apparently it has it's origin in the old naval guns. When loading with lose powder you had to plug the touchhole or you would spill gunpowder on the deck.

They didn't have fuses like in every cartoon ever made but a match of hemp that you touched to the hole, so the hole had to be large.

 

[NorthBorder]

My momma was a pistol and I'm a son of a gun.

 

[22250Rem]

I grew up in a shotgun house.

........ "shotgun house"............ Now there's a term I had forgotten all about. Haven't heard that term in decades.

 

[Demi-human]

Well, it’s killing me. I’ve tried to be restrained, but @whughett hasn’t come back to tell us.

A brass Monkey is the rectangular metal rack that keeps cannon balls from rolling around on deck.

The balls were racked and stacked into a rectangular pyramid, on this “monkey” near the muzzle to aid in loading.
If your ship sailed to places so cold to shrink the metal enough, the cannon balls would slip and fall off the monkey.

Near Cape Fear and NewFoundland it was often “cold enough to freeze the (cannon) balls off a brass Monkey”.

At least that was the story my Grandfather related to me about the brass base that wasn’t attached to his chair table, but kept it from toppling over anyway.

Grampa was a collector of esoterica.(Junk of the highest order.)
He also had a Wiley E. Coyote “buzz box” detonator for dynamite, that he swore he got from Wiley...

 

[Terry G]

He's got a hare trigger.

 

[.308 Norma]

I don't know which politician said it, and it's definitely not a classic, but it might be appropriate these days ..."clinging to their guns and bibles."

 

[whughett]

Well, it’s killing me. I’ve tried to be restrained, but @whughett hasn’t come back to tell us.

A brass Monkey is the rectangular metal rack that keeps cannon balls from rolling around on deck.

The balls were racked and stacked into a rectangular pyramid, on this “monkey” near the muzzle to aid in loading.
If your ship sailed to places so cold to shrink the metal enough, the cannon balls would slip and fall off the monkey.

Near Cape Fear and NewFoundland it was often “cold enough to freeze the (cannon) balls off a brass Monkey”.

At least that was the story my Grandfather related to me about the brass base that wasn’t attached to his chair table, but kept it from toppling over anyway.

Grampa was a collector of esoterica.(Junk of the highest order.)
He also had a Wiley E. Coyote “buzz box” detonator for dynamite, that he swore he got from Wiley...

Thanks Demi-Human. Would have taken me forever to type that out one fingered on my cell phone.

 

[Speedo66]

I don't know which politician said it, and it's definitely not a classic, but it might be appropriate these days ..."clinging to their guns and bibles."

That was Mr. Obama.

Andrew Cuomo, the dictator of NY, also made a statement one time regarding people who wrote him to oppose a newly signed seat belt law some time ago. He said the most most defiant were "NRA hunters who drink beer, don't vote, and lie to their wives about where they were all weekend."