Let’s learn some common weapon idioms. While it’s always good to know expressions so that you can avoid misunderstandings, it is especially important to know ones that are related to violence. Image how badly the conversation could go, if you thought someone was talking about literal violence in a casual conversation?
Imagine that you have just started a new job, and you are about to attend your first staff meeting. You ask around, to find out what you can expect. A coworker whispers to you that she plans to ‘drop a bomb’! And then the manager tells you that the staff is going to ‘pull the trigger’ on something, in order to ‘hit the target’. Unless you know that these comments contain idioms, you might think “My God! What kind of violent people have I gotten myself involved with?”.
Let’s start by looking at the three idioms we have seen so far:
To drop a bomb – to announce something unexpected
To pull the trigger – to make a final decision and commit to a course of action
To hit the target – to achieve a goal
Try using these in your own sentences.
Try to guess the weapons that go with each idiom.
Select the correct idiom to fit the context.
What would you like to learn about next?
