Chrysti The Wordsmith: Pot Shot - 2

Greetings were lovers last time on Christie the wordsmith the word pot shot was in the etymological spotlight as a 19th century hunting term potshot originally referred to a careless shot fired at an animal with no regard for the conventions of sportsmanship or fair chase but simply to dispatch the animal for the cooking pot a pot shot by the early 20th century a pot shot was also a random verbal criticism often aimed at someone in an indefensible position. Another of our common expressions that makes use of the word pot is go to pot meaning disintegrate deteriorate to be ruined. It turns out that the cooking pot is the inspiration for this phrase also. The picture is of substandard portions of meat being chopped up and thrown into a stew pot where they eventually grow tough and unpalatable. Someone gone to pot therefore has disintegrated and lost flavor. Suffering the same fate metaphorically at least as low grade. Still meet a slightly different

version of the expressions origin has worn out barnyard animals gone to pot when they can no longer give milk. Lay eggs or pull ploughs that is they end up butchered and boiled in the cooking pot. The phrase has a long tradition in the English language the Oxford English Dictionary historical database suggests. Go to pot was first printed in 15 30. I'm Christie the wordsmith from Montana State University in Bozeman. CHRISTIE The wordsmith a sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry sued web dotcom.