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Darling be home soon

Posted by Henry on May 16, 2003

In Reply to: Shoot the Moon posted by Lotg on May 15, 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.

: : : All that I have to contribute is that "Shoot the Moon" was the title of an early 1980s movie about a divorcing couple. Albert Finney and Diane Keaton star. Lots of ugly stuff happens.

: : I have also heard the phrase used to mean "go for broke" (there's a phrase for you), or "give it all you've got, as in try your hardest, or "Let's shoot the moon!" when you want to celebrate, go out and have a good time.

: : Wow thanks. The moonlight flit theory sure was unexpected.

It's OK to shoot the moon
But darling be home soon.

From Darling Be Home Soon by The Loving Spoonful
Written by John Sebastian, released 1967
A great single from a great group!

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