Shoot the Moon

Posted by Henry on May 14, 2003

In Reply to: Shoot the Moon posted by TheFallen on May 14, 2003

: : I looked up the archives and found one unanswered reference to this.

: : I'm not even absolutely sure I understand what the phrase means. So can anyone tell me the meaning of the term 'shoot the moon', and its origins?

: I can only offer that "to shoot the moon" means in certain card games to win every trick or point in any given hand.

: There is a related expression "to shoot for the moon", which is obviously the previous stage in the process, meaning to set oneself a very ambitious target without much chance of success. Therefore if one actually *does* manage to "shoot the moon", one has achieved a very unlikely outcome.

: Both expressions may be connected with the fact that "the moon" has long been used as a symbol for something utterly and unrealistically unobtainable - cf. "There's no use crying for the moon" and "He's asking for the moon there".

From Brewer; Shoot the Moon (To). To remove house furniture by night to avoid distraint.

In other words, to do a moonlight flit! There appears to be some confusion with this phrase and shoot for the moon.

• Shoot the Moon ESC 05/14/03
  • Shoot the Moon bella 05/14/03
    • Shoot the Moon Lotg 05/15/03
      • Darling be home soon Henry 05/16/03
      • Darling be home soon Henry 05/16/03