shoot from the hip
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English[edit]
Verb[edit]
shoot from the hip (third-person singular simple present shoots from the hip, present participle shooting from the hip, simple past and past participle shot from the hip)
- (literally) To discharge a firearm while it is held near the hip, without taking time to aim via the gunsights.
- 1914, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The German War”, in The Contemptible Little Army:
- “As to their rifle fire, it was useless.” “They shoot from the hip, and don’t seem to aim at anything in particular.”
- (figuratively) To speak or act quickly based on first impressions, without carefully studying the background information, wider context, etc.
- 2016 June 15, Thomas L. Friedman, “Opinion: Lessons of Hiroshima and Orlando”, in New York Times, retrieved 10 May 2018:
- Trump is shooting from the hip, spraying insults 360 degrees, telling lies, stoking fears and making threats that many in our military and the F.B.I. would refuse to implement.
Synonyms[edit]
- (figuratively: speak quickly based on first impressions): shoot from the lip
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
discharge a firearm
|
speak or act quickly
|