Lock & Load

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8013
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Lock & Load

Postby Slava » Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:32 am

This one has always bothered me; how can you load if you've already locked? Does anyone know how this phrase came about? Does the word order make sense? Is it used by real people, or just in the movies by super macho-types?

Thank you,

Slava

skinem
Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 1197
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:33 pm
Location: Middle Tennessee

Postby skinem » Sun Oct 29, 2006 12:47 pm

Older gun phrase that actually is used by people who shoot or sometimes, by people in the military. I've actually heard it in this context, and also when someone is meaning to get ready for something.
Thought to have originated with the advent of the M1 Garand, a US semi-automatic military rifle of WWII vintage. To use it you had to load a clip containing bullets and then move or "lock" the bolt forward. So, the actual phrase should be "load and lock". But, according to http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorl.htm Hollywood reversed it. Figures.
So, I guess it is used incorrectly by real super-macho types as well as Hollywierd super-macho types.

Bailey
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2114
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2006 7:51 pm

Postby Bailey » Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:48 pm

I found this:
Lock and Load
This imperative phrase originally referred to the operation of the M1 Garand Rifle, the standard U.S. Army rifle of WWII. Its meaning is more general now, referring to preparation for any imminent event.

The original phrase was actually reversed, load and lock. The phrase refers to inserting a clip of ammunition into the rifle, loading the clip and locking the bolt forward, thereby forcing a round into the chamber. The phrase first appears in Gach's 1941-42 In the Army Now. It was immortalized by John Wayne (who else?) in 1949's Sands of Iwo Jima, where the Duke reversed the phrase to the current lock and load.

The term lock in this phrase is a different use of the word than in references to the firing mechanism of a weapon, as in flintlock.http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorl.htm
mark the-Duke-it-figures Bailey

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb









User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8013
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Lock & Load

Postby Slava » Sun Oct 29, 2006 4:52 pm

Thank you for the quick turn-around on coming up with an answer. I always felt it was off, but never quite wanted to demonstrate my lack of knowledge of firearms. It might have been disparaging to my manliness to question such a studly phrase.

Regards,

Slava

Perry
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2306
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:50 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Postby Perry » Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:29 am

It is very common, but equally incorrect I suppose, to exhort one's children to get their shoes and socks on.

Perry laughs-at-himself-daily-for-this-reversal-of-phrase Dror
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
Anonymous

Bailey
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2114
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2006 7:51 pm

Postby Bailey » Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:45 am

That reminds me of the All In The family schtick where Carroll O'Connor exorts Rob Reiner to put his shoes and socks on corectly, i.e. first put on both socks Then both shoes, "not a sock and a shoe and a sock and a shoe, what if a fire broke out?" Then you would only have one foot shod,.............and on and on.

mark those-were-the-days Bailey

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb









sluggo
Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 1476
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:58 pm
Location: Carolinia Agrestícia: The Forest Primeval

Re: Lock & Load

Postby sluggo » Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:14 pm

Thank you for the quick turn-around on coming up with an answer. I always felt it was off, but never quite wanted to demonstrate my lack of knowledge of firearms. It might have been disparaging to my manliness to question such a studly phrase.

Regards,

Slava
Not at all Slava, I wooden have had any idea either and look at me... :? Keen observation though.

If I were a wagering wag I would bet it's due to what I'll call the consonantal liaisons: "lock and load" (lah-kin-lode) rolls off the tongue faster and easier (K>N less work than D>N) than the reverse, maybe ditto for "shu-zin-sox" (Z>N vs KS>N).
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!

Stargzer
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2578
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
Location: Crownsville, MD

Postby Stargzer » Sun Nov 05, 2006 7:15 pm

Wikipedia says the same thing about the reversal, but then at the bottom of the article is this passage:
One can also understand "lock and load" as a meaningful instruction with the M1, as described in the manual: before loading the clip, the proper procedure is to lock back the bolt using the operating rod.
The article has a link to the Springfield Armory's M-1 Garrand Manual, from which I pulled this quote:


3. Prepare the rifle for loading. Pull the operating rod handle to the
rear until the bolt is securely locked open.
(See Figure 21-1).
Caution! Make sure the bolt is not simply resting against the follower. (See
Figure 21-2).If the bolt is not correctly locked back the bolt may
slam forward while you are loading the clip unexpectedly.

4. Loading a full clip. Grasp the rifle with your left hand just forward of
and under the receiver. Place the butt of the rifle on or against
something fairly solid such as your thigh, a table or the ground.
Using your right hand place the clip on the top center of the
cartridge with your hand extended down the right side of the rifle
so that your hand is just forward of the operating rod handle. Push
the clip down until it latches. The operating handle and bolt should
stay to the rear as long as downward pressure is maintained on
the top cartridge. (See Figure 21-3).
Caution: Before pushing the clip down into the magazine you must keep in
mind that the bolt will slam forward immediately after the clip is
latched and you remove the downward force on the clip. So plan to
quickly move your right thumb and hand quickly up and to the right
to clear the bolt as it slams forward. If by chance you do this too
slowly the edge of your hand should catch the bolt and prevent it
from smashing your thumb. When loading a Garand clip the first
time and thereafter, visualize the entire process including the quick
removal of your thumb and hand before attempting it. Only by
concentrating on proper loading technique will you avoid an
“M1 - thumb.” If the prospect of having your thumb hit by the bolt is
unacceptable do not attempt to load your Garand.
So, locking back the bolt and loading makes sense to me.
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee


Return to “Idioms”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests