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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Pull a gun on me
How come we say "he pulled a gun on me!"? but not, at me.
Whereas it is Ok to say "she aimed/targeted/pointed her gun at me."
Whereas it is Ok to say "she aimed/targeted/pointed her gun at me."
Top answer
Hi Anon: "pull a gun on" is an idiom. It means to take a gun out of its holster quickly and make it ready for firing. Probably the origin is in the old western movies when the gunman who was the fastest to pull his gun out won the shootout.
- Hi Anon: "pull a gun on" is an idiom.
- It means to take a gun out of its holster quickly and make it ready for firing.
- Probably the origin is in the old western movies when the gunman who was the fastest to pull his gun out won the shootout.
- "Point at" and the other varients are all phrasal verbs - it means to aim at a target.
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5 Answers
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Hi Anon:
"pull a gun on" is an idiom. It means to take a gun out of its holster quickly and make it ready for firing. Probably the origin is in the old western movies when the gunman who was the fastest to pull his gun out won the shootout.
"Point at" and the other varients are all phrasal verbs - it means to aim at a target.
"pull a gun on" is an idiom. It means to take a gun out of its holster quickly and make it ready for firing. Probably the origin is in the old western movies when the gunman who was the fastest to pull his gun out won the shootout.
"Point at" and the other varients are all phrasal verbs - it means to aim at a target.
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Pulling it is step one. Pointing it is step two.
To pull something on somebody is a separate idiom.
He pulled a fast one on me.
He pulled a Houdini on me. (a disappearing act)
He pulled a con on me.
Granted, to pull a gun differs from the three above because it's a specific physical action. It describes "withdrawing" the gun fro
To pull something on somebody is a separate idiom.
He pulled a fast one on me.
He pulled a Houdini on me. (a disappearing act)
He pulled a con on me.
Granted, to pull a gun differs from the three above because it's a specific physical action. It describes "withdrawing" the gun fro
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He fired one barrel and then fired again.
Barrel is just the long part of a gun, how come he can fire it?
It seems a bit eccentric to me.
Barrel is just the long part of a gun, how come he can fire it?
It seems a bit eccentric to me.
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"To fire" is idiomatic for discharging the weapon.
"I fired my gun" = "I shot my gun."
there was a time when guns/cannon were loaded/charged by pouring in some gun powder and then adding the "shot"/cannon ball. The powder was then indeed set on fire. The cannon had a "touch hole" for this purpose. Some rifles had a piece of flint which was struck by metal (like a cigarette
"I fired my gun" = "I shot my gun."
there was a time when guns/cannon were loaded/charged by pouring in some gun powder and then adding the "shot"/cannon ball. The powder was then indeed set on fire. The cannon had a "touch hole" for this purpose. Some rifles had a piece of flint which was struck by metal (like a cigarette
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He fired one barrel simply means "he emptied one barrel". Common sense wil tell you what is meant.
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