"Shot his wad"

Can you name the president who shot his wad in the oval office?

 

Taft?

 

I believe the term refers to the stuff you put down a musket to keep the gunpowder and bullet in place. Shooting said wad requires a long process to reload, so it's illadvised to so so ahead of time.

A perfectly OK term if you're writing for a 19th-century audience.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/wad


wad n.
1. A small mass of soft material, often folded or rolled, used for padding, stuffing, or packing.
2. A compressed ball, roll, or lump, as of tobacco or chewing gum.
3.
a. A plug, as of cloth or paper, used to retain a powder charge in a muzzleloading gun or cannon.
b. A disk, as of felt or paper, used to keep the powder and shot in place in a shotgun cartridge.
4. Informal A large amount: a wad of troubles.
5. Informal
a. A sizable roll of paper money.
b. A considerable amount of money.
v. wad·ded, wad·ding, wads
v.tr.
1. To compress into a wad.
2. To pad, pack, line, or plug with wadding.
3.
a. To hold (shot or powder) in place with a wad.
b. To insert a wad into (a firearm).
v.intr.
To form into a wad.

 

I don't care what the phrase originally meant. I know what it means now. And I probably wouldn't use it in copy, unless I was reviewing the new Ron Jeremy film.

 

If it's in any way a euphemism for something sexual, get rid of it ... what's next?

Gore blows his load at Bush

 

See? Jackie's just old school.

 

Seeing as we don't have BLOGS! I can't say for sure, but I'd want a writer to change it. Even if you ignore that people might find it inappropriate, it definitely distracts from what the writer is trying to say.

And for Francona to do it in the 11th inning, the most climactic point of the game..... (OK, that was a pretty weak one...)

 

How long has "shot his wad" been a reference to ejaculation? Would a middle-aged person think of that connotation on deadline? I'd have changed it, but I can see how it got through the desk.

 

Wilbon the other day (on PTI) used the phrase and referenced John Holmes in the same sentence. I laughed.

 

OK, I come at this from a slightly different angle, but maybe I change it anyway.

A phrase starts out legitimately clean, and for whatever reason, morphs into something obscene.

So every time that happens, that phrase is now off limits?

"Shot his wad"'s most generic use is still the gambling reference, and it's first reference was "clean" too.

I guess I just would think a little more before automatically changing it than some.

 

I have no idea what gambling reference "shot his wad" has.

 

'WE'LL HAVE A GAAAAY OL' TIIIIIIME!'

Seriously. Legitimately clean meaning, morphed into something else. Use it or no?

'The mood of the clubhouse was gay, almost euphoric....'