to shoot??? sounds wrong to me

[anfanglove]

Hi everyone, its not a serious thread, im just playing with language. Im from Indonesia, and we dont speak English here. Most of Indonesian people speak Indonesian. Ive been thinking about the word 'shoot' in English. People here use the word to refer to the activity of taking photographs with a camera. To me the word 'shoot' sounds wrong. From my point of view as a non-English (native)speaker, the word 'shoot' in photography may have been compared to the action of shooting with a gun. we aim and we pull the trigger. And we do the same thing with the camera, we aim, we push the shutter button.

But the difference is that in the 'real' shooting, something is projected out of the gun, its the bullet. but in photography, the action of shooting does not project anything. Not only that, the camera actually receives something instead of projecting something. Its the light, received by the sensor. so maybe the word 'capture' makes more sense instead of 'shoot'. but we have used the word 'shoot' for such a looong time. despite the opinion above, i believe 'shoot' is a good cognitive metaphor. well this kind of thing happens in every culture i guess, those who speak that language as their first language might not be aware of those things, but other people who speak another language as their first language might see it from a different perspective. language is fun.

[StillFocus]

I never really thought about it before, but I suppose it could be considered an idiom to non-native English speakers. The term is also quite prevalent in golf.

This is even more confusing for my friends when I tell them "I'm gonna go home and shoot some tomatoes"

[macromike]

I get what you are saying, my version of the word "shoot" is a little different. Here is an example;

SHOOT...... thats a crappy picture...


Capture is probably the best word choice for taking a picture, lol but shoot, its all fun.
there are 63 definitions for the word shoot in the dictionary, the word can almost be used for anything

[autofocus]

How about "shoot the rapids"...or sometimes when people get together to talk and they "shoot the sh*t / bull / breeze" How about a young plant known as a "shoot"...or injecting something into one's body as in "shoot up," or "shoot the shot" as in basketball, "shoot from the hip," or "shoot one's mouth off," and not to mention one's desire to to strive, "let's shoot for it"...wow, no wonder English is so hard to learn!!

[BEGM83]

He shoots...he scores!


To me it's a process of pointing aiming and putting some power behind a thing in order to hit a target.

In photographic terms thats pointing the camera, aiming it at the thing you want to capture, putting power behind it (pressing the button) and hitting the target (final image)

[J. r. Weems]

Hmmm? Serious question, but sounds like there are those that want to reinvent the wheel. There was a time when you could only take a photo by "SHOOTING' flash powder. Many of us DO use the word "CAPTURE", one of those things where my glass is half full, your is half empty.?

[anfanglove]

Originally Posted by auto-focus

How about "shoot the rapids"...or sometimes when people get together to talk and they "shoot the sh*t / bull / breeze" How about a young plant known as a "shoot"...or injecting something into one's body as in "shoot up," or "shoot the shot" as in basketball, "shoot from the hip," or "shoot one's mouth off," and not to mention one's desire to to strive, "let's shoot for it"...wow, no wonder English is so hard to learn!!

indeed, English is hard to learn not only that im always confused when i have to use a preposition, which prep to use? its so confusing, or whether i should put an article or not, or when having to use a noun, is this countable or uncountable? shall i add an s to make it plural? and the tenses ooohhhh noooo. But to a native English speakers maybe those things which are confusing are actually of great help because they contain certain information. oh well, at least i hope that i can be understood when i use English. I find using English quite challenging. <--- lol dont even know if i have spelled that word correctly or not.

[anfanglove]

Originally Posted by J. r. Weems

Hmmm? Serious question, but sounds like there are those that want to reinvent the wheel. There was a time when you could only take a photo by "SHOOTING' flash powder. Many of us DO use the word "CAPTURE", one of those things where my glass is half full, your is half empty.?

half full, that also sounds funny

to me, something which is full cant be half, i mean look at the full moon, its not half is it? but then we say half full, hahaha, or maybe when we say 'the memory card is full' it means that it cant store anymore data, because its full. so i wonder what to say then, half filled? lol that still doesnt sound right, i dont know,

hmm i think i need to try how to multiquote

[San_Sebastian]

I've taken an interest in shooting birds. Not because I particularly like birds, but because they're fun and challenging and always pose for the camera. I've had some snarls and nasty looks when I mention how many birds I've shot and am going to shoot....


I can definitely see the confusion. When I read articles or posts that say along the lines of "how to shoot my family?" and "I'm going to shoot my son at his baseball game today" I still cringe but I know exactly what they mean.

English is one big contradiction. England started the weirdness....then we Americans just mangled it