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Meantolearn Posted 21 years ago
Vocabulary
shoot the breeze
shoot the breeze (Cambridge)
- to talk with someone or a group of people about unimportant things:
e.g. We sat out on the porch, just shooting the breeze.
Can anyone explain why it has such a meaning?
Thanks,
- to talk with someone or a group of people about unimportant things:
e.g. We sat out on the porch, just shooting the breeze.
Can anyone explain why it has such a meaning?
Thanks,
Top answer
Our words were so unimportant they were just aimed at the air around us? (very wild guess)
- Our words were so unimportant they were just aimed at the air around us?
- (very wild guess)
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7 Answers
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Our words were so unimportant they were just aimed at the air around us? (very wild guess)
00
Just a guess here.
"shoot" = "eject", "expel"
"breeze" = "air", "breath"
The idiom emphasizes the mechanical act of forcing air out of the lungs and out of the mouth -- necessary for the production of the sounds of the words. Left unsaid is that perhaps the mental portion of communication is not very obviously present in the exchanges when people just "shoot the b
"shoot" = "eject", "expel"
"breeze" = "air", "breath"
The idiom emphasizes the mechanical act of forcing air out of the lungs and out of the mouth -- necessary for the production of the sounds of the words. Left unsaid is that perhaps the mental portion of communication is not very obviously present in the exchanges when people just "shoot the b
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CalifJim necessary for the production of the sounds of the words.Yet more than breath is necessary for sound. The 'mental portion' has to be present at least in the form of vocalizing words, and even understandable sentences. It's not whistling, or yodeling we're talking about here.
The point is-- people are talking to, or with , one
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davkett,
I think the original poster wants to know the origin of the idiom, not the meaning.
CJ
I think the original poster wants to know the origin of the idiom, not the meaning.
CJ
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Sorry CJ--
You're right. I get lost easily the further away from the beginning--which, incidentally, started in another post where I mentioned 'shooting the breeze'.
You're right. I get lost easily the further away from the beginning--which, incidentally, started in another post where I mentioned 'shooting the breeze'.
00
Yes. I read that one, and I wondered if that was where this all started! It appears I was probably true about my intuitions. 
00
It's another sailing expression. We deliberately point a ship directly into the breeze to stop the ship's motion. Done to check the direction of the wind on a yacht's compass - or to stop a ship in the outer harbour, ready to drop anchor.
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