Browse phrases beginning with: [A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][X,Y,Z] A shot in the darkMeaning A hopeful attempt. Origin The term 'shot' has been slang for an attempt since the middle of the 19th century. For example, this piece from Joseph Hewlett's comic work Peter Priggins, the college scout, 1841:
'A shot in the dark' is simply a hopeful attempt to hit an enemy that you can't see. George Bernard Shaw seems to have been the first to use it metaphorically, in The Saturday Review, February 1895:
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