"Shot his wad"

To have spent everything, ijag.

The first colloquial reference - as stated above re: muskets - was analagous to "fired prematurely". To fire the wad but not the musket ball. To go off, as it were, half-cocked. Another musket favorite. (Add: It also, in a moment of crisis, meant to have fired all your ammunition, and then, in the last extremity, fired your wadding alone because you were out of shot. Which brings us to...)

The second reference, as above, and one folks of my grandparents' generation used broadly, was to have spent everything you had. "He shot his wad at the department store for church clothes."

 

Well, that's an obvious example as well -- not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

What other meaning could "down the cock" possibly have?

 

I doubt many writers are going to fight with the desk about keeping it. It's not original, clever or literary; the writer didn't labor to find the precise phrase that would dazzle readers. The writer most likely used the phrase without even giving it much thought. And thus it's not worth it. That's my rule of thumb -- is it worth it? It serves no real purpose that wouldn't be accomplished better by something original or for that matter something just as cliched. It's just stubbornness to want to keep it.

 

I would go with 'blew his wad' as a gambling reference, no problem. He had a big wad of cash, and blew it.

Shot his wad, I'm sorry, no disrespect to Jackie, but that is just wrong. One of those expressions that flies off your fingertips too fast as you're typing. You're not writing for Militia Weekly, you're writing for sports fans who have a distinct usage for the expression.

That said, if the pitcher's name was Wad, can you use it in a headline? 'Tribe shoots Wad'.....

 

Blew his wad, fine for gambling. That I've heard.

Shot it? Never heard it in any way other than orgasming.

 

But afterall it is The Boston Globe - the Minuteman's hometown newspaper so maybe in New England the reference is ok.

 

I once worked in a shop where the editors went on a kick of wanting us to end quotes by using something other than "said." Everybody started using constructions like ... he pointed out, he explained, he related. I always threatened to insert "he ejaculated" into a deadline story to see if it got through the desk (to utter suddenly and passionately; exclaim), but I never had the nerve to do it.

Haven't thought about that for 10 years, but this thread made me think of it.

 

Wait ... the editors WANTED you to use something other than "said?" That is just ... odd.

 

Shoulda done it. I know I woulda. That woulda got some deserved attention real quick.

 

When you're shooting craps (another gambling term that has taken on another meaning) or some other dice game and lose all your money, i.e. your wad, you've shot your wad.
Seriously, though, I had a history prof who looked like he just came out of central casting...tall bald guy, horn-rimmed glasses and tweed sport coat.
Class ended about 10 minutes early one day and he put his hands up and said, "Well, I've shot my wad for the day."
I had to get out of class in a hurry...I liked the prof and had no desire to laugh in his face.

 

This is a trend I can get behind.

"The Colorado Rockies finished on the grill of the Arizona Diamondbacks ..."