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Discussion Groups / British English / May 2005"to hang fire"
My mother uses this expression in the context : "those cakes are hanging fire - would someone please clear them up for me". Anyone know the origin of this phrase? Many of her expression are Staffs/Warcks dialect. Thanks. >My mother uses this expression in the context : "those cakes are hanging >fire - would someone please clear them up for me". > >Anyone know the origin of this phrase? Many of her expression are >Staffs/Warcks dialect. >Thanks. There was a brief discussion of this phrase recently in alt.english.usage: On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:53:30 -0000, "John Dean" <john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote: >A hang-fire is a situation where there is a delay between the >application of the firing mechanism (trigger, match, whatever) and the [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >control of the shooter. Idiomatically, a person may choose to "hang >fire" by delaying the performance of an action. In the case of your mother's cakes did she mean that the cakes were taking longer than expected to be fully cooked?  SignaturePeter Duncanson UK (posting from u.c.l.e) She means they have been hanging around and not getting eaten. >>My mother uses this expression in the context : "those cakes are hanging >>fire - would someone please clear them up for me". [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > In the case of your mother's cakes did she mean that the cakes were taking > longer than expected to be fully cooked? >She means they have been hanging around and not getting eaten. Aaah. It's really the 'eaters' who have been "hanging fire" - i.e. holding back. However, phrases tend to acquire different usages as different people get hold of them. SignaturePeter Duncanson UK (posting from u.c.l.e) |
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