| 释义 |
can't hit the broad side of a barn can't hit the (broad) side of a barnslang Has very poor aim. Boy, you can't hit the broad side of a barn—the net is over here, you know! These guys haven't made a single basket in the last 10 minutes—they just can't hit the side of a barn right now.See also: barn, hit, of, sidecan't hit the broad side of a barnHave very poor aim. For example, That rookie can't hit the broad side of a barn, let alone strike anyone out or, as put in The New Republic (February 19, 1990): "Their missiles couldn't hit the broad side of a barn." This hyperbolic term, dating from the mid-1800s, at first denoted poor marksmanship. Around 1900 it also began to be used in baseball, for a pitcher with poor aim. See also: barn, broad, hit, of, sidecan't hit the broad side of a barnDescribing a person with very poor aim. The term is thought to have originated in the mid-nineteenth century in the military. It was often repeated in the early twentieth century, when it was applied to untalented baseball pitchers who could not throw the ball over the plate with any consistency. The “broad side” in this expression also suggests the old naval meaning of broadside, that is, a simultaneous discharge of all the guns on one side of a warship. However, there are numerous variants (the inside of a barn, the right side of a barn with a shotgun, and so on) that suggest the term may also have been rural in origin.See also: barn, broad, hit, of, side |