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e.g.,They hang fire on their decision to get divorced.Does it sound literary? Please advise the more casual phrase for that.Thanks

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

This is not an expression I have ever heard.
What does it mean?

Anonymous · Answer

Oh, I'm just experimenting with that phrase. It's from en.wiktionary.org. The meaning is "postpone" or " delay", if I'm not mistaken.

Deadrat · Answer

"Hang" here has the meaning of "suspend an action," as in the phrase "hanging around," i.e., not doing anything. "Fire" means the ignition of gunpowder (or other propellant) in a weapon. It means that you've pulled the trigger on a live load, but the bullet or other projectile failed to leave the gun. What's happened is a malfunction has caused the propellant not to ignite.

Metaphorically, the term has been transferred to any delay in making a decision to act. Note that a hang fire (also hangfire) is a happenstance beyond the control of the person pulling the trigger, so I find that "hanging fire" is used in situations in which people simply let the inertia of inaction cause a delay instead of making a deliberate decision to postpone action. In such a case, the phrasing is "They let the decision hang fire."

The usage "they hang fire on their decision" isn't quite right because it's not the deciders who hang fire, it's the action itself that's held in abeyance.

Anonymous · Answer

"They let the decision hang fire."

What's the everyday phrase for it?

Deadrat · Answer

They decided not to decide.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, deadrat!  <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

BarbaraPA · Answer

I've never heard that before. Is it British?

Deadrat · Answer

Not as far as I know.

Anonymous · Answer

BarbaraPAI've never heard that before. Is it British?

No. It seems like an exact translation from another language.

Deadrat · Answer

This seems unlikely.  The Ngram server finds the phrase in an 1889 debate during a convention of companies about the advisability of running high-voltage wires underground.

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