Duck soup

[Michael Quinion]

> Off-topic, but isn't "wide-bore punt gun" redundant?  A punt gun
> is best described as "artillery"---a gun too big to be fired from
> one's shoulder, and which is mounted on a "punt" (a type of boat).
> The one example I have seen (on display in a local restaurant) has
> a barrel longer than I am tall.  In order to fire enough buckshot,
> or whatever, to kill a commercial quantity of ducks, it must
> necessarily be large-bore ("wide-bore")

A redundancy? Perhaps, to those who know about punt guns. But it is
also a helpful descriptive enlargement to those who don't. My own
lack of direct practical knowledge of the technical terms of the
wildfowlers' trade is obvious enough ...

--
Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
E-mail: <TheEditor at worldwidewords.org>
Web: <http://www.worldwidewords.org/>