What is the origin of the term "gat" used in describing a firearm, sometimes used in old gangster stories?
594920
they used the term "gat" in "sugar and spice" the movie
156282
Well...I have no idea! But I think this guy did:\n"Modern lexicography, believe it or not, is at a loss to account for the origin of the term G-string (which actually is often spelled geestring). One writer offers the thesis that a G-string resembles a capital G in shape. Makes perfect sense to me. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a burlesque show and thought, goodness, the apparatus keeping this young lady from getting arrested resembles a capital G when viewed from above. I must notify the Smithsonian.\n\nThe earliest known reference to G-string is in J.H. Beadles's Western Wilds, written circa 1878: "Around each boy's waist is the tight 'geestring,' from which a single strip of cloth runs between the limbs from front to back." From this we see that G-string originally referred only to the thong around the waist, which is precisely what a "girdle" was in its earliest form. Thus G-string may be an abbreviation of "girdlestring," the only difficulty being that no such word has ever come to light, that I am aware of, anyway. Alternatively, we may note that "string" was a common 19th-century synonym for "whip," which was of the same rawhide construction as the aforementioned prairie G-string, and that "gee" is an expletive frequently employed to accelerate one's horse. A "geestring" may thus have been a pioneer horsewhip later discovered to be useful in holding up one's pants, or the equivalent thereof. Finally, and rather unimaginatively, we may observe that a G-string (the string part, that is) bears a superficial likeness to the fiddle string of similar designation. However, this explanation does not appeal to me, and I trust the discriminating reader will say it pretty much eats as well."
1030992
Here you go: \n\nhttp://www.dyerlabs.com/glossary/gun_terms.html\n\nhttp://www.campaignadvantage.com/services/websites/archive/ags/glossary.html
762504
it means to put your gear on and go "like go kill the bad guy" "gear like weapon uniform ect.."
65196
According to the Word Detective, "To begin at the beginning, "clock" has been slang for the human face since the mid-nineteenth century, based on its supposed resemblance to the face of a clock.  "Clock" as a verb has also been slang for "to punch in the face or strike violently" since the early 20th century, again based on the clock-face metaphor.\n\n"Elsewhere in the world of fisticuffs, according to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, "clean" has been slang for "vanquish" since the early 19th century.  The Random House dictionary also lists "fix someone's clock" as a slang term for "to finish someone," first attributed to the writer O. Henry in 1908.  Curiously, the first citation for the whole phrase "clean someone's clock" comes only in 1959, but we can assume it had been around for awhile before that.       \n\nEven with all this evidence tying faces and punches together, I must say that there is another possible source for "clean someone's clock."   In railroad slang, an engineer who applies the train's air brakes in an emergency is said to "clean the clock" or "wipe the gauge" as the speedometer needle drops to zero.  It seems logical that such a graphic metaphor would be the perfect way to describe stopping an opponent in his tracks, and even if this is not the source of the phrase, it may have contributed to its popularization."
932268
Bound's hubby here:\n\nAnd people say creative writing is dead!\n\nFirst ... the .38 Special, .357 Magnum, and 9mm handguns and their respective ammunition are referred to as medium bores. \n\nThe .38 Special, being the oldest, was one of the first "true" medium bore smokeless powder cartridges. While the bullets fired from a .38 Special or .357 Magnum are typically .357 to .358 inches in diameter (9mm being .355 inches in diameter), the inside diameter of the barrel at the grooves is smaller in diameter, and the inside diameter at the lands (rifling) is even smaller in diameter ... this is necessary for the bullet to "fill" the lands and grooves to establish rotation of the bullet in order to achieve any degree of accuracy. \n\nThe earlier blackpowder medium bore cartridge was the .38-40 ... whose bullet was actually .40 cal. (firing a bullet .400 inches in diameter). \n\nThe other "medium bore" handgun prior to this was the .36 Navy, a cap and ball revolver that fired a bullet .351 inches in diameter. \n\nWith the exception of the .357 Magnum, none of the medium bores' names truely reflect the actual diameter of the bullet fired. The reason the .38 Special was named the .38 Special by Smith & Wesson (its developer) was to avoid identification with the .36 Navy ... which WAS a proprietary development of its competitor, "Colt". Performance-wise, the .38 Special was a significant improvement in reliability, performance, and accuracy over the .36 Navy ... and needless to say more modern ... S&W sought a unique identity for its first centerfire medium bore smokeless cartridge.\n\nAs an aside, with the exception of the .22, the .25 ACP, .357 Magnum, the .40 S&W, the .41 Magnum, and the vast variety of .45s, no handgun cartridge name truly reflects the actual diameter of the bullet. The 32 family = .312", the .38 family = .357, the .38-40 = .400", and the .44 family (even the mighty .44 Magnum) = .429".\n\nGood luck!
382278
Aglets or aiglets is correct.\n\nThe word comes from the latin word acus which means needle. In times past, aglets were usually made of metal though some were glass or stone. Many were highly ornamental, and made of precious metals such as silver. Before the invention of buttons, they were used on the ends of ribbons to fasten clothing together. Sometimes they would be formed into small figures. Shakespeare calls this type of figure an "aglet baby" in The Taming of the Shrew. Purely decorative metal ornaments called aigullette are sometimes features of modern military dress uniforms.
71902
Well, when I was growing up they used to say a person was a "pistol" when they were rebellious or unique.   I guess it went from there to "son of a gun" which makes sense if you think about it.  LOL
998592
It comes from the early 1800s in London.  The term "pig" for a contemptable person was around a long time before that.  Particularly, the name refers to a certain group of Police called the Bow Street Runners that criminals referred to as China Street Pigs.
966518
I could find no real origin in any of my reference books, other than suggesting the analogy with firing a gun. However, one day, I was sent the following which appeared in the Clevedon, Somerset, Civic Society Newsletter for Summer 1996:\n"We discovered recently that the word 'fired', meaning discharged from a job originated on Mendip. It comes from Item 6 of the Laws of Mendip Miners. \n"If any man... do pick or steale any lead or ore to the value of xiiid (=13 pence), the Lord or his Officer may arrest all his lead and Oare House or hearthes with his Grooves and Workes and keep them in forfeit... and shall take the person that hath soe affeended and bring him where his house or worke and all his tooles and instruments are... and put him into his house or worke and set fire in all together about him and banish him..." Fired indeed!
1056518
It comes from old firearms.  Like old-fashioned mechanical alarm clocks, gun have a  tigger that controls a hammer.  When the hammer is at rest, it's "off".  When it's pulled back part way, it's "half-cocked".  When it's pulled back all the way, it's "cocked".  \n\nWhen a gun is cocked or half-cocked, you can squeeze the trigger and slowly easy the hammer back to the off position.  If u do this too quickly, the hammer will cause the gunpowder to fire or "go off".\n\nOld-fashioned mechanical alarms clocks have a hammer that it's a bell repeated to wake someone.  These hammers were pulled back into a cocked position by hand, just like those on a gun.  When a cog in the alaram clock trips the trigger, it causes the hammer to go "off cock" and that's why we refer to an alarm going off.
162041
The previous answer is not correct. Here is a link to the actual story. It involved a setup by one gang to put a hit on another. Staged as a bootleg alcohol buy.
748485
the first known guns with metal barrels using lead bullets were made in europe in the early 13th century. although they resembled spears with miniature cannons attached to the front, they were hand held and fired and can be considered as "guns" not cannon.
443095
DRAW??? You either mean 'drawer' or 'drawing'. I'll go with the latter, and say a 'gun'.
403279
The cartridge, containing the propellant and a shell in one unit, was originally design for the Gattlin gun in about 1860.  This type of ammunition was experimented with for ordnance (the correct generic name for artillery pieces) as soon as the breech loading models were designed.  They did not become common until World War I.  Prior to World War II the cartridges were almost always made of brass.  Steel was used later.
244151
"Although this does have a literal meaning, to threaten with a stick, we in the United States give it much more fanciful interpretations. If we say, "There are more filling stations in town than one can shake a stick at," we mean nothing more than that the town contains an abundance of places at which one may purchase gasoline for one's motorcar. That American usage dates from early in the nineteenth century. One may speculate that it arose from the play at warfare by small boys--George Washington Jones flourishing a triumphant wooden sword over the considerable number of British soldiers who surrendered at Yorktown, more, in fact, than he could wave his "stick" at. then, too, we use the expression to indicate a comparative that may express derogation, and have done so for well over a hundred years. David Crockett, in his *Tour to the North and Down East* (1835) wrote of one place at which he stayed, "This was a temperance house, and there was nothing to treat a friend to that was worth shaking a stick at."
948203
It has nothing whatsoever to do with Donald Trump.\n\nIt is an analogy from the discharge of a firearm.  During the civil war and earlier it was common to refer to the discharge of a musket or rifle as "fired", meaning the slug was shot.  When you fired something, obviously the slug (or bullet) was sent away at high speed, never to be seen again, and no one really cared.  It was gone quickly and for good.  Likewise, when a person got "fired" he was "shot" out of the company, quickly and completely, gone for good and again, no one really cared.\n\nAnd the term predates Donald by at least 200 years.