[Ads-l] [Non-DoD Source] Re: locked and loaded, loaded and locked

[Bill Smith]

After years of trying to understand “lock and load,” my folk etymology determined that it “lock the safety.”


Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: W Brewer
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2017 10:51 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [Non-DoD Source] Re: locked and loaded, loaded and locked

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: [Non-DoD Source] Re: locked and loaded, loaded and locked
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"Lock & load!"  Command to shove the damn magazine in the carbine and slam
the bolt forward. That's all it ever meant to me. And hope the piece of
crap doesn't jam again.
     Synchronically speaking, in my mind, "lock & load" is a non-sequitur.
I think the round has to be shoved out of the magazine & locked into the
chamber. This may reflect a re-interpretation of a prior process with older
weaponry, as discussed; or not. For me, it's a case of hysteron proteron.
Cf. bred & born (conceived & birthed) > born & bred (birthed & reared).

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