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Fire in the hole

Posted by ESC on April 14, 2001

In Reply to: Fire in the hole posted by Todd on April 14, 2001

: I've heard this phrase in many action movies, usually screamed as a warning that an explosive device was just thrown into an enclosed area. I wonder about the origin of this phrase, if it wasn't originally used as an alarm in response to the extremely dangerous situation of having an uncontrolled fire in a wooden ship's *hold*. Another theory is as an alarm to other soldiers that gunfire has erupted in a soldier's dugout (hole). Anyone know for certain?

: If possible, please reply to todd@digitalexistence.com. Cheers.

Nope, I don't know the origin for sure. The phrase was used in "Coal Miner's Daughter," a bio of singer Loretta Lynn, when a miner was using dynamite to blast loose coal.

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