Does one "fire" a bow?

Would people say "Fire" to a group of archers?

Because I remember it showing up in media a few times, and in retrospect it makes no sense.

"Fire" would be associated with firearms, right? Since you'd actually have some flame or light a fire.

...

Dude, that's a very good question. I've never thought of it that way.

In the modern sense of the verb, yes, you can fire an arrow.

However, that sense of the word comes from firearms, and traditionally, you would shoot an arrow, not fire it.

"Loose" would be the more likely term.

@anne OMFG YOUR AVATAR!!

^^ Actually, yes, my bad.

Now I'm wondering what the etymology of "shoot" is and whether it comes from "shot".

Edit: It doesn't; you could shoot an arrow.

edited 25th Sep '11 4:54:43 PM by BobbyG

Yeah, I had this avatar shared to me a while ago, but never used it.

"shot" is derived from the verb, not vice versa.

As for loose:

I think it'd be more traditional to say "shoot an arrow" than "loose an arrow" based on the etymology.

edited 25th Sep '11 4:58:54 PM by annebeeche

They say "shoot (your bows)" or "loose (your arrows)".

I imagine the term fire came from officers telling men to literally add 'fire' to cannons/other explosive and over time the order of 'fire' became associated with shooting a weapon. So you can say 'fire your bow' given that the meaning of the word has changed since then but if you were writing of a time prior to combustion-based(whats the correct term?) projectile weapons the term would be incorrect.

edited 25th Sep '11 5:03:32 PM by Bwaaaa

This has always bugged me, especially since I saw The Two Towers, in which a Rohan officer yells "Fire!" to his troops. Is there any records of actual military commands that pre-date firearms? Most movies that don't anachronistically say "fire" use "Let fly!" or a variation.

EDIT: This site says that the command sequence would have been "Ready your bows! Nock! Mark! Draw! Loose!" which sounds believable.

edited 25th Sep '11 5:11:15 PM by EdwardsGrizzly

Considering how far the English language has come since the invention of gunpowder, it's not weird.

inb4 Anne

Yeah, I always heard that you knock an arrow to the bow and then loose it.

Shooting is actually correct.

Knocking always amused me.

It's "nock", not "knock. A "nock" is a notch or cut-away area, just like the notch on the end of an arrow that fits over the string.

S He's right, actually. Guess I always heard it spoken, never knew otherwise.

I just say "shoot" or "fire."

Okay, show of hands, who here has ever fired, shot, loosed an arrow before?

@Erock: You can not hope to beat annebeeche at a etymological post off. She is simply the best there is.

edited 25th Sep '11 5:23:10 PM by HungryJoe

~shows hand~

Oh right, you mentioned loosing your calluses.

And by show hands, I don't mean show me that you can still use a bow.

edited 25th Sep '11 5:25:58 PM by HungryJoe

@Joe: I know, but she would probably back me up.

But I still have the muscle memory necessary to shoot accurately.

My poor little fingers. I guess I should have started slower. I shot for almost an hour straight today.

edited 25th Sep '11 5:27:32 PM by Poisonarrow

I have. Recurve and longbow.

-shows hand-

I should really get back into it. I've slacked off since starting college.

@Mad: Sweet. I'm thinking of buying a bow when I get old enough, I'm decent at it already. What's a good bow for a novice?

I actually did it gym class, which is pretty weird for an fairly urban high school.

I still say we should've had to bag one of those geese that shat all over the field to pass.

And I used a compound at Scout Camp.

Unlike my brief tryst with a .22, I think I could learn how to actually do some archery.