Gun related expressions.
- Thread starter jsalcedo
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CJ
Member
Jumping/jumped the gun
Going postal (somewhat related)
Going postal (somewhat related)
hansolo
Member In Memoriam
Shooting Blanks
NOTE to self: don't leave monkey out in really cold weather
NOTE to self: don't leave monkey out in really cold weather
P95Carry
Moderator Emeritus
CJ, or anyone ... do remind me of the origin of that saying. I know what it means but danged if I can recollect how it came into being.
Going postal
Late 80's early 90's apparently some postal managers and supervisors were treating postal workers very badly and made for a extremely hostile work environment, hazing, retribution for reporting problems etc...
A couple of folks snapped under the pressure, came to work and shot
the managers and supervisors. Once it happened I guess it set the stage for copycats.
This is off the top of my head I'm sure a news search could bring up names and places
Late 80's early 90's apparently some postal managers and supervisors were treating postal workers very badly and made for a extremely hostile work environment, hazing, retribution for reporting problems etc...
A couple of folks snapped under the pressure, came to work and shot
the managers and supervisors. Once it happened I guess it set the stage for copycats.
This is off the top of my head I'm sure a news search could bring up names and places
Quote:
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I got one more
The whole nine yards
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I thought this referred to the capacity of the bed on a dump truck. Most hold 9 cubic yards.
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I got one more
The whole nine yards
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I thought this referred to the capacity of the bed on a dump truck. Most hold 9 cubic yards.
winstonsmith
Member
Jsalcedo said:
I thought flash in the pan was from panning for gold? When one would see something shiny and think it was gold, but it just was a flash in the pan.
Am I wrong?
I thought flash in the pan was from panning for gold? When one would see something shiny and think it was gold, but it just was a flash in the pan.
Am I wrong?
Double Maduro
Member
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2002
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Winstonsmith,
I always heard that "flash in the pan" referred to flintlock rifles. When the striker would ignite the powder in the pan but fail to ignite the charge.
DM
I always heard that "flash in the pan" referred to flintlock rifles. When the striker would ignite the powder in the pan but fail to ignite the charge.
DM
XLMiguel
Member
Did somebody say "short round" or pot shot?
Levelhead - a 30 degree heel on a sailing vessel is pretty extrem and is not common at all except in some pretty heavy weather, FWIW. IIRC, shot was usualy stowed in crates, hauled on deck with the charges by the 'powder monkey', as needed.
nine yards = length of machinegun ammo belts for WW2 fighter planes, i.e. emptied the gun into the target
Levelhead - a 30 degree heel on a sailing vessel is pretty extrem and is not common at all except in some pretty heavy weather, FWIW. IIRC, shot was usualy stowed in crates, hauled on deck with the charges by the 'powder monkey', as needed.
nine yards = length of machinegun ammo belts for WW2 fighter planes, i.e. emptied the gun into the target
P95Carry
Moderator Emeritus
jsalcedo ... proving quite an illuminating thread!!
Thx for the mention re ''Gone Postal'' ... makes sense and is I guess about how I imagined .. or half remembered!
Thx for the mention re ''Gone Postal'' ... makes sense and is I guess about how I imagined .. or half remembered!
"Shot your wad"
How did I miss that one?
More on postal: 1995
PALATINE, Illinois (CNN) -- Police in the Chicago suburb of Palatine have arrested a postal employee in the shooting of two people at a mail processing center Tuesday morning. One of the victims was critically wounded. All three workers apparently are mail sorters. There is no immediate word on the gunman's motive.
Police said the employee used a semi-automatic handgun. They tracked him to his home in the northwestern suburb of Northlake half an hour after the shooting. The gunman shot one person in the building's lobby and the other in the sorting area. The victim in critical condition reportedly suffered two gunshots to the chest. The other victim was shot in the neck.
There have been 39 killings in U.S. post offices in the past decade
from 1990 to 1995
How did I miss that one?
More on postal: 1995
PALATINE, Illinois (CNN) -- Police in the Chicago suburb of Palatine have arrested a postal employee in the shooting of two people at a mail processing center Tuesday morning. One of the victims was critically wounded. All three workers apparently are mail sorters. There is no immediate word on the gunman's motive.
Police said the employee used a semi-automatic handgun. They tracked him to his home in the northwestern suburb of Northlake half an hour after the shooting. The gunman shot one person in the building's lobby and the other in the sorting area. The victim in critical condition reportedly suffered two gunshots to the chest. The other victim was shot in the neck.
There have been 39 killings in U.S. post offices in the past decade
from 1990 to 1995
gburner
member
lock, stock and barrel.
btw....everybody's monkey shrinks when it's cold. George Costanza
btw....everybody's monkey shrinks when it's cold. George Costanza
El Cid
Member
He died of lead poisoning.
Shoot low sheriff! He's riding a shetland!
I thought "lock, stock and barrel" ment when you buy a store you buy it from the lock on the front door, the stock in trade, and the water barrel in the back.
Shoot low sheriff! He's riding a shetland!
I thought "lock, stock and barrel" ment when you buy a store you buy it from the lock on the front door, the stock in trade, and the water barrel in the back.
El Cid
Member
POP a cap on him!
I'm a newbie here. Been posting on several others and this thread was too good to pass up. Unfortunatly, by the time I got signed in most of the good sayings had done been posted.
I'm a newbie here. Been posting on several others and this thread was too good to pass up. Unfortunatly, by the time I got signed in most of the good sayings had done been posted.
dukeofurl
Member
"calling the shots"
A note on "Son of a gun"
I heard that it came from the fact that sailing ships often carried women for the sole purpose of "intertaining" the men of the crew while at sea. They very often gave birth while at sea and that was done on the gun deck and because no one knew who fathered the child they were called "son of the gun".
Is there another story as to the origin of the saying?
Vern
I heard that it came from the fact that sailing ships often carried women for the sole purpose of "intertaining" the men of the crew while at sea. They very often gave birth while at sea and that was done on the gun deck and because no one knew who fathered the child they were called "son of the gun".
Is there another story as to the origin of the saying?
Vern
Strings
Member
I have to argue with Jim March n this one:
>"On the money" refers to lowering the hammer of an SAA onto an unloaded cylinder which often contained a rolled-up $20 bill.<
I actually roled a bill and stuck it in one of my CAS pistols once. Ended up with a jammed revolver, as the rolled bill slid forward and stopped the cylinder from rotating...
>"On the money" refers to lowering the hammer of an SAA onto an unloaded cylinder which often contained a rolled-up $20 bill.<
I actually roled a bill and stuck it in one of my CAS pistols once. Ended up with a jammed revolver, as the rolled bill slid forward and stopped the cylinder from rotating...
This is in reguards to the brass monkey thing and the observation of another as to a ship listing 30 degrees will cause the balls to roll out of place.
I don't know if they were stacked in a triangle pattern, I think that they may have been stacked in a square pattern thus having a four by four stack there would be 30 balls available. If the balls were spread apart so as to not touch one another the next tier of balls would fall deeper into the pattern and thus would not roll out of position as easily and would survive a much more violent angle of the ships deck. Does this make sense or is my thinking wrong? I don't want to start a flame as they say, just wondering.
Vern
I don't know if they were stacked in a triangle pattern, I think that they may have been stacked in a square pattern thus having a four by four stack there would be 30 balls available. If the balls were spread apart so as to not touch one another the next tier of balls would fall deeper into the pattern and thus would not roll out of position as easily and would survive a much more violent angle of the ships deck. Does this make sense or is my thinking wrong? I don't want to start a flame as they say, just wondering.
Vern
El Cid
Member
Freeedomv...
**A note on "Son of a gun"***
This reminds me of the ol' gal who worked on a construction crew at the plant. When she became pregnant she said she was going to name the child "Target" because all of the men had a shot at it!
To ZPO
I got my version of Lock, stock, and barrell from an old gun magazine about 30 years ago that discussed where such quotes came from.
Both quotes can be used for their intended purposes.
**A note on "Son of a gun"***
This reminds me of the ol' gal who worked on a construction crew at the plant. When she became pregnant she said she was going to name the child "Target" because all of the men had a shot at it!
To ZPO
I got my version of Lock, stock, and barrell from an old gun magazine about 30 years ago that discussed where such quotes came from.
Both quotes can be used for their intended purposes.
The whole brass monkey thing (according to my father, a 17 year Navy man) it's "Charm the balls off a brass monkey" since the ready ammunition for the gun sat on the brass square plate (the monkey) in a triangle. In cold weather, the iron shot would freeze to each other (not the brass plate) since they all rested against each other. So the loader who could manage to get a cannonball off the others could literally charm the balls off a brass monkey.
Nobody's yet mentioned, "Hold your fire" and Crossfire".
How about "Don't fire until you see the whites in their eyes" and having something "In your sights" or "In range"?
It was always my understanding, also, that "Lock, stock, and barrel" referred to the three components of a flintlock rifle.
How about "Don't fire until you see the whites in their eyes" and having something "In your sights" or "In range"?
It was always my understanding, also, that "Lock, stock, and barrel" referred to the three components of a flintlock rifle.
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