Why DO we call it that?

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C5rider

C5rider

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I've often wondered about some of the terminology that we use in the firearms field. For example, if a gun feels good when you hold it, you say it "feels good in THE hand". The wordsmith in me wants to constantly change that to "feels good in MY hand." I mean, if it felt good in "the" hand, then it would fit perfectly for everyone who has A hand. The broad market of aftermarket grips and grip sizes clearly shows that this is not the case.

Also, when drawing a handgun or putting a rifle to shoulder, we say about getting a good "purchase" on the firearm. "Purchase"? I mean I know what that is supposed to mean, but I'm just wondering how that came around to mean that.

Another one that I've not heard before entering the shooting hobby is when a primer isn't seated completely in the primer hole, we say it is "proud." That one MAY have other uses (besides the ego meaning) throughout other areas, but I've not heard it.

What other terms are specific to the shooting world that one, who doesn't submerge themselves in the hobby, might wonder about? Does anyone know of why we use those terms specifically? :confused:
 
The use of a common "THE" is pretty standard, really. "Those lines are pleasing to the eye." Some may love it, some may actually hate it, but to the speaker it is generally a quality to be assumed universal.

The use of "flush" is absolutely common in skilled trades like woodworking, cabinet-making, and trim carpentry. If two surfaces are exactly in-plane with each other, they are "flush." You sink a nail head "flush" (or even "below flush") so that you don't catch your toe on it when walking across the floor later. If it isn't flush, it's "proud."

"Purchase?" One of the age-old definitions of purchase is "grip or foothold." The sources I see appear to link it to an old nautical use in which one gripped and "purchased" up an anchor line or hawser.
 
I always thought that "mounting a shotgun" sounded like you were climbing on it to ride, as you would a horse.

But, I can't think of a better term for sticking one to your shoulder.
 
Proud is a very common term that is used to describe anything that stand above that which surrounds it. I use proud almost daily.

Purchase means to obtain, yes most often by money but also through effort be it great or small. Again nothing out of the ordinary there. One must purchase, with some amount of effort, the proper grip or stance.

Saying THE is simply a lazy generality not at all meant to imply a proper fitment or usage across the broad spectrum of all hands.
 
The wordsmith in me-
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I don't mean to insult, but you are not displaying a versed familiarity with the written English language. I suppose I have to assume that you are younger than someone I'm accustomed to communicating with.

As has been said, the words "proud", "purchase", and "the" are being used quite properly in the examples you gave.

Now you know.
 
My Dad sailed as a cadet on training ships in the 1930s and always used "purchase" to describe the mechanical advantage provided by a block and tackle. So it would make sense that a good purchase would be a good grip.

Tinpig
 
The wordsmith in me
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"The" is commonly used in that sense, much as you'd use it in, "pleasing to the eye"...the ownership by the speaker (writer) is implied

As you've declared yourself a "wordsmith," I'm a bit surprised that you aren't familiar with the usage of "proud" to mean above level or "purchase" to mean grip or traction. Might I inquire as to your advanced training in the usage of the language...editor, proofreader?
 
Keep in mind that the meanings of words have changed/evolved over time. So the term purchase might have originally meant "to grip/hold" but over time it was used much more commonly to mean "to buy". Doesn't necessarily mean the original definition is wrong (though it may be considered archaic).
 
HGM22 said:
Keep in mind that the meanings of words have changed/evolved over time. So the term purchase might have originally meant "to grip/hold" but over time it was used much more commonly to mean "to buy". Doesn't necessarily mean the original definition is wrong (though it may be considered archaic).
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Interestingly the original definition, meaning "to obtain" is the more archaic...dating from the French in the 14th century.
 
purchase - from Middle English: from Old French pourchacier ‘seek to obtain or bring about’

So you "bring about" your grip. You bring it to yourself. That's also what you do when you buy something.
 
Wow, you all have been busy overnight! :what:

I guess that these terms are more common than I expected. Not saying they're wrong. But I've never heard them outside of this arena (at least not in any arenas I've been in!) :D

And, I do think that there is a certain "age of use" issue as well. Most likely for the words/terms, and their user. I'm probably older than some of you, younger than most but nowhere NEAR anal enough to be a proofreader, although I have corrected typos in self-defense once or twice. :D
 
"Purchase" felt archaic the first time I read it in gun magazines in the late eighties. I don't get out much compared to others, but I never see the term anywhere but in gun writing. I still don't use the term and I don't know anyone personally that uses it (not counting forums).

The other one that is still weird to me is "on my person". I never speak like that. If I did, something on my person would be something on a person next to me that I happen to own. Since I don't own anyone, I don't have anything on my person. Maybe I could see something on my daughter or on my step-son or on my boss or . . .
 
Purchase, etc.

"Purchase" in the referenced contexts is a noun, not a verb. It has nothing, in this usage as a noun, to do with buying.

Scroll down to the noun discussion:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purchase

It's a pretty common noun in a variety of areas:

Boating: Get a good purchase on that halyard.

Climbing: The rock face is too steep for a good purchase.

Etc.
 
This has been educational. You start examining idiomatic phrases closely and you can have some "what the heck does that mean" moments. Word use also varies by region.

I have heard "purchase" used as a synonym for traction or grip or grab: I slipped and fell on an icy deck because I lost my purchase; or, I put some gravel and dry branches under the muddy tire to give it some purchase.

If I have something "on my person" it means I have it immediately accessible: if I have camera or monocular or pen or multitool "on my person", I have it in a pocket or holster or hanging by a strap readily available for use, or "close at hand". (Thinking of "on my person" as "on a person whom I own" was a mindwarp for me: "my person" has always meant "my self".)

I know Elizabethan usage is said to have survived here in East Tenessee. New England author H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) criticized Alexander Pope (1688–1744) for rhyming "join" and "line" but I recall my greatgrandmother pronounced "join" as "jine" (not as "joyn") which probably dates from the 1700s.
 
Being a fairly well-read person, I find I occasionally use archaic terms that many younger folks aren't familiar with. Also, years of watching BBC programs has caused me to occasionally use "Britishisms" when I talk or write.
 
Proud flesh

Having worked with horses in the past, we often had "proud flesh" in a healing wound. That is overexuberant healing tissue that grows above the level of the surrounding area, and needs to be trimmed off
 
I believe "purchase" was another term for a "block" (or "pulley" to us modern speakers) back in the old days of sailing. Also used interchangeably with "grip".
 
C5rider said:
What other terms are specific to the shooting world that one, who doesn't submerge themselves in the hobby, might wonder about?

I guess that these terms are more common than I expected. Not saying they're wrong. But I've never heard them outside of this arena (at least not in any arenas I've been in!)
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In any hobby or field of expertise there are terms or expressions that folks new to or unfamiliar with, do not understand, especially in a country like ours that is a melting pot of dialects and languages. Understanding those terms and knowing what they describe is all part of the challenge of becoming proficient and knowledgeable in that hobby/field. Firearms and their use is no different. Forums such as this have opened my eyes to the fact that some of the names and expressions I have used for half a century are not only one of many, but are grammatically incorrect to the point of argument to some folks. :rolleyes:
 
flush and proud are used in many trades...

Purchase has nautical roots...

Two-blocked is another peculiar one.

Having worked in several industries, and lived in a ten different states while active duty, I find expanding ones vocabulary and using colloquial, industry specific, or regional Language is fun...

Especially while enjoying a soda, pop, tonic, cola, soda-pop, or seltzer :)
 
The English language is full of words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently. In the world of the gun, consider the word "lead". Most often the balance of the sentence determines how a word will be perceived. Consider--The cast lead bullet must be well fitted to the lead (leade) so that it will be lead (led) accurately to the target!

Consider also--- He had a tear in his eye. AND He had a tear in his shirt. And the list goes on.

Also, there are many among us who regularly use "then" instead of "than".
 
Magazine: To many outside our interests, this is a periodical publication, but its original meaning in Latin was a "storehouse" or a "place of storage". In languages that take a lot from Latin, such as Russian, the word for a store (such as a market) is indeed "magazine."

It was applied to periodical publications because they were considered to "store" information at the time.

To us, it's a "storehouse" or place of storage for ammunition "at the ready."

Oh, and Latin never referred to a storehouse as a "clip." :D
 
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