Gun related local colloquilisms and common sayings

[osteodoc08]

Just for fun, what common phrases or local colloquialisms can we come up with that are gun related.

1. A flash in the pan
2. The whole shooting match
3. Going off half cocked
4. Lock, stock and barrel
5. The whole 9 yards
6. Keep your powder dry
7. Windage and elevation
8. A shot in the dark
9. Took a sound shot
10. Shooting blanks
11. Cocked, lock and ready to rock
12. Locked and loaded/Lock and load
13. The rule of 303
14. I gave it both barrels
15. Quit being a squib
16. Under the gun
17. He's a good soldier, but powder is a little damp
18. Aim higher
19. Not what I was shooting for
20. Son of a gun
21. Get the lead out
22. You gonna pull them pistols or whistle dixie?
23. Pull the trigger
24. Drop the hammer
25. Quickdraw/Quick draw McGraw
26. Silver Bullet
27. Well shoot
28. Blast it
29. I still have 1 more shot in my locker
30. Give it your best shot
31. This (blank) is shot to heck
32. We dodged a bullet
33. Right on Target
34. Did I miss you? Yes, but working on breathing and trigger control.
35. Aim small, miss small
36. Hotter than a $2 pistol
37. Shoot for the moon
38. When you have to shoot. Shoot, don't talk
39. Is it the indian or the arrow
40. To shoot ones wad.
41. Shoot the works
42. To rifle through something
43. To get hammered
44. Top Gun
45. Straight Shooter
46. To take a shotgun approach or shotgun troubleshooting
47. Shoot low boys, theyre riding Shetlands
48. Shoot low, they're crawling
49. This is your last shot, make it count
50. He's ramrod straight
51. Stiff as a ramrod
52. You have a hair trigger
53. Used as cannon fodder
54. That would be a long shot
55. Take a fine bead
56. The plan misfired
57. Shooting from the hip
58. Set your sights on the goal
59. We arrived loaded for bear
60. When there's lead in the air, there's hope
61. Shotgun formation
62. Shotgun approach
63. **** shoot
64. Aim High
65. Loose Cannon
66. Balls and Brass Monkeys
67. Give 'em both barrels
68. He pulled first
69. Trigger Happy
70. Shootist
71. Cant miss fast enough to win
72. Off/On the mark
73. Shotgun Wedding
74. Riding Shotgun
75. Texas Heart shot
76. Cutting it fine
77. Shotgun shack/House
78. Accuracy by volume
79. Shoot the moon
80. Need to tighten up their shot group
81. Shoot the proverbial....
82. Went off like a scattergun
83. Can/Could shoot the hair/fly/flea off a gnats/horses/dogs a$$
84. Cant hit the broad side of the barn (from the inside)
85. Tack driver/nail driver
86. You're slower than wet gun powder
87. Going full bore
88. FMJ
89. Caught the whole load
90. As easy as shooting fish in a barrel
91. Stick to your guns
92. Inline with your sights
93.

[ShooterAZ]

I believe a flash in the pan is related to gold mining...but I could be wrong. How about "the whole shootin' match"?

[Whiterabbit]

flash in the pan is in very common use. It means your powder in your flintlock flashed, but didn't make it to the barrel. A spectacular failure that occurred before your project even got off the ground.

Another widespread and common use colloquialism is "going off half-cocked"
Another is referencing the "lock, stock, and barrel", meaning simply "everything"

We don't have any local colloquialisms here that I can think of.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The whole 9 yards !

[ShooterAZ]

flash in the pan is in very common use. It means your powder in your flintlock flashed, but didn't make it to the barrel. A spectacular failure that occurred before your project even got off the ground.

Another widespread and common use colloquialism is "going off half-cocked"
Another is referencing the "lock, stock, and barrel", meaning simply "everything"

We don't have any local colloquialisms here that I can think of. Yeah your right...I was thinking "it didn't pan out".

[2wheelDuke]

"The Whole 9 Yards" is a bit debated. Some say that it was in use before for textiles or something. However, it certainly applies to the 9 yards of belted ammo in an airplane's machine gun.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Dang, Maybe it doesn't...
I've always heard the origin below...But WIKI says that theory is no longer viable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_whole_nine_yards

Origin
There is still no consensus on the origin, though many early published quotations are now available for study. A vast number of explanations for this phrase have been suggested;[28][29] many of these are no longer viable in light of what is now known about the phrase's history.
Perhaps the most commonly offered explanation is that World War II (1939–1945) aircraft machine gun belts were nine yards long. There are many versions of this explanation with variations regarding type of plane, nationality of gunner, and geographic area. This theory is no longer considered viable, since the phrase predates World War II.[11]

[Old School Big Bore]

The fighter planes of WWII that had fifty cals had storage for 27 feet of belted .50. Thus if they emptied the belt on a strafing or dogfight burst, "I gave 'em the whole nine yards!"

[osteodoc08]

I'll update the first post as more are added. This is fun, I've forgotten about some and the whole 9 yards is new to me.

[ShooterAZ]

How about " this is a shot in the dark..."?

[OeldeWolf]

the Whole 9 Yards. I heard an explanation predating WWII. It referred to he early (WWII) land based machine guns with the cloth belts. Like the early Brownings. In which case, it might have predated WWI by a tad.

[MBTcustom]

Your shootin blanks
Cocked, locked, and ready to rock.
The rule of 303.
I gave it both barrels.
Quit being a squib.
I'm under the gun
He's a good soldier, but his powder's a little damp.
Aim a little higher next time.
That's not quite what I was shootin for.
Get the lead out!
You gonna pull them pistols or whistle dixie? (gun related movie line that has become a local colloquialism)
You gonna pull the trigger on that?
Drop the hammer already!
He's pretty quick on the draw.
Well shoot!
Blast it!
I believe this (idea of mine?) will be your silver bullet.
That feller is a straight shooter.
Take your bullet out of your pocket.
It's a long shot, but its worth a try.
It's time to bust out the big guns.
There's no way to measure that. You've got to use "Kentucky windage"

[Bent Ramrod]

"I still have one more shot in my locker."

"Give it your best shot."

"This _________ is shot to (expletive deleted)."

"We really dodged a bullet there."

[Hawkeye45]

Right on target.

Mr. Ed

[Bulldogger]

Did/do I miss you? Yes





But I'm working on my breathing and trigger control...

[snuffy]

Gun related local colloquialisms and common sayings.

deleted! didn't make the PC list

[dagger dog]

Hotter than a 2 dollar pistol !

[osteodoc08]

Pee-poddy-or get off the pot. Refers to quit wasting time! I've heard of $hit or get off the pot, but not following on this one (being gun related, great line otherwise)

Thought of aim small, miss small and shoot for the moon.

I guess I should include it needs to be in good taste. Not like, I missed my ex, but I'm reloading kinda stuff you may see on a T-shirt. Or Smile, wait for flash (showing it on the end of a barrel)

[bob208]

don't load a bale of hay.

when you have to shoot. shoot don't talk.

[1845greyhounds]

"Is it / was it the Indian or the arrow?"

[Harter66]

To shoot 1s wad . Is popular in the casinos as in '' to have spent a wad of cash on the tables''.

Actually Son of a gun is also related to the port town orphanages and the less respectable ''ladies'' leaving new borns on the port entry gun decks,plaforms or towers hence ''another son of the guns''.

To shoot the works
To rifle through ,as files etc
To get hammered ,caught busted or intoxicated
Top gun , its the Navy air combat school,gas station and drag strip in Fallon Nv.

[osteodoc08]

Straight Shooter

[Whiterabbit]

oh, we do have a local colloquialism. "Shotgun Troubleshooting". Means a guy who didn't bother to figure out the root cause of what is going on, he just pulled out the shotgun to fix the problem and replaced global modules rather than seek individual damaged parts.

in other words, didn't use a scalpel to perform his surgery or even a club. Went straight to the shotgun.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

How about, shoot low Shorty he's riding a Shetland!

[osteodoc08]

How about, shoot low Shorty he's riding a Shetland!

Lewis Grizzard.....We're from the same hometown. Newnan, GA. Alan Jackson is from there too.

[montana_charlie]

Some others for the list:

he's ramrod straight
stiff as a ramrod
you have a hair trigger
used as cannon fodder
that would be a long shot
take a fine bead
the plan misfired
he was shooting from the hip
set your sights on the goal
we arrived loaded for bear

[M-Tecs]

When there's lead in the air there's hope.

[osteodoc08]

We're up to 60, can we make 100?

[762 shooter]

Shotgun formation.

Cr*p shoot.

Aim High.

[Hawkeye45]

Knew a dermatologist who if he didn't know what exactly a condition was prescribed SGC --shotgun cream.

Mr. Ed

[Grendl]

Loose cannon
Balls and brass monkeys

[catmandu]

Give em both barrels.

[otter5555]

he pulled first !

[jcameron996]

"Can't miss fast enough to win". I have found that I really resemble that remark since I started competition shooting. It also applies to a lot of things on life if you stop and think about it.

[Wolfer]

I've always used the term , hotter than a burglars pistol, got it from one of my high school teachers.

[geargnasher]

I believe that "The whole nine yards" referred to the Vickers machine gun used on many British and French WWI aircraft, possibly the early 250-round cloth belts, but more likely the later disintegrating-link metal belts.

Gear

[TXGunNut]

Off the mark

[TomE]

Shotgun wedding
Riding shotgun

[wgr]

Texas heart shot.

[eljefeoz]

Cutting it fine

[Trey45]

Shotgun shack.(or Shotgun House)

Accuracy by volume, usually refers to machine guns, but has been adopted by the digital photography crowd, basically, you shoot 100 pictures and keep the best 2 or 3.

Shoot the moon!

[L1A1Rocker]

I believe that "The whole nine yards" referred to the Vickers machine gun used on many British and French WWI aircraft, possibly the early 250-round cloth belts, but more likely the later disintegrating-link metal belts.

Gear

I heard that it was from WWII. That US aircraft held 27 feet of linked ammo for their guns. The saying went something to the affect, when trying to shoot down a zero, "I had to give him the whole nine yards."

[sidecarmike]

Interesting. I was always of the impression that "the whole nine yards" referred to civil war era sailing ships.

[Janoosh]

I don't believe "rifle thru something" is correct. I believe "rifle" is a corruption of "riffle", as riffles used in gold panning.
Does "Hoist on his own petard" fit in???

[Harter66]

Possibly but there are lots of perversions we've carefully avoided.

I got 45 good reasons why my daughter will come home in the same condition she left. Several gentlemen introduced themselves w/ it a pleasure to meet Mr Hart ,I know all about the 45 and the shovel......... Its only funny because I actually had 357 good reasons not 1 45 in the whole stable.

[jonp]

"The Whole 9 Yards" is a bit debated. Some say that it was in use before for textiles or something. However, it certainly applies to the 9 yards of belted ammo in an airplane's machine gun.
On tall sailing ships in The English Navy the last sail to be hoisted to have every sail aloft had 9yrds of cloth in it.

The whole 9 yards meant everything was out.

[MT Gianni]

I had a Doctor explain to me that my vomiting blood was much better for him than using "the shotgun approach to medicine". That being where they try everything to find a solution.

[Vopie]

"The whole nine yards" refers to the length of the cloth ammo belts used in the British Vickers machine gun during WWI. The term was used by the gunners to describe the amount of ammo expended to stop a mass attack. The history channel's series on WWI even made note of this.

[waksupi]

On tall sailing ships in The English Navy the last sail to be hoisted to have every sail aloft had 9yrds of cloth in it.

The whole 9 yards meant everything was out.

Can you supply a reference for that?

[richhodg66]

In the Army, it was real common for NCOs to tell a sub standard Soldier whose performance needed to shape up that they needed to "tighten up their shot group", which of course came from BRM ranges where a troop hadn't effected a good zero on his weapon before qualification. I still use it a lot regarding any person or operation that needs to get it together.

[Jr.]

Straight shooter
Shooting the s***
Went off like a scatter gun
Can/could shoot the hair off a gnats a**
Or shoot a fly off a horses a**
Or shoot a flea off a dogs
Can't hit the broad side of a barn
Tack driver/nail driver

I'm sure there a lot more I use but I can't think of them right now

[osteodoc08]

Updated since the other day. Lots of good ones on the list. I'll update periodically.

[histed]

What about "You're slower than wet gunpowder"? So many ways to take that, but I think the reference is to someone who's a bit slow on the draw.

[Hogtamer]

going Full bore
FMJ
caught the whole load

[Rat man407]

as easy as shooting fish in a barrel

[Jr.]

Couple more

Stick to your guns
Inline with the sights

[osteodoc08]

Updated

However, it shows a 4th page and it wont let me access it. Just goes to the bottom of the third page. Weird.

[Harter66]

I actually got and email that read ''test'' for the thread but upon viewing neither the ''4'' nor last button work

[Le Loup Solitaire]

A shot in the dark
Give it your best shot
Shot down
Shoot em up
Give it a shot
A shot in the mouth
A crazy shot
LLS

[Gator 45/70]

I shot this with a 'pumpkin ball'
Dropped like a sock.
Pa' Kow's

[robg]

you missed out snap shot