English idioms can be confusing for both native and non-native speakers due to multiple meanings of words and grammar rules that seem to be made to be broken. Even a simple idiom like “fire away” can have multiple meanings, including related to passion or the shot of a gun. The word “via” also has multiple meanings, including distance and abandonment.
English speakers pepper their conversations with one idiom after another whose meanings are by no means transparent, and it’s quite a ballgame or a can of worms trying to make head or tail out of it. The “fire away” idiom is a little more understandable than other idioms, but it’s far from clear until someone explains it. If you shoot, keep shooting questions or ideas at someone without holding back.
In truth, for both native and non-native speakers, English is a very confusing language. Many words are spelled one way and spoken another, and grammar rules, more often than not, seem made to be broken. Add to that the fact that there are thousands of words with as many as five or six different meanings. On top of that, there are also hundreds of identically pronounced but differently spelled pairs of words that have very different meanings, and it’s a wonder anyone can communicate.
All of which means that even a simple idiom like “fire away” can appear from a statement and make even the brave one want to move on and run. Two tiny words is all the idiom it has on the surface, which might make some people think it couldn’t be that complicated. Those two words, however, could mean a number of things both individually and in combination.
The word fire immediately conjures explosive flames, but the fact that fire is not just an element but the thing that, more than any other, has transformed humanity makes it natural for a myriad of secondary and metaphorical meanings. Someone who is excited is angry or upset or maybe just excited. If that person confronts a superior, though, she could end up fired.
Fire is also related to passion. Someone who is on fire about something is highly driven and when people get along like a house on fire, nothing can keep them apart. Someone who is so angry that he is breathing fire summons a furious and highly dangerous dragon.
In the “shoot away” idiom, the fire referred to has to do with the shot of a gun. Other idioms that share this use of fire include “ready, fire, aim,” which suggests someone doing things out of order, and “face the firing squad,” which is used when someone will be punished for a mistake. or a bad decision.
The word via also has multiple meanings. The first thing that comes to mind is distance. Something that is far away cannot be easily reached. A secondary meaning has to do with abandonment. Someone is told to leave when they are no longer wanted.
At the same time, someone who gets away with it doesn’t get caught, and someone who looks away doesn’t want to know incriminating details. A hard worker belittles or drudges about a problem, while a lazy one walks off and leaves the job to someone else or quits with a list of tasks for others to do.
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