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... at which point they had no choice but to fire upon the enemy.

They opened fire.

They returned fire.

Aim! Fire!

Fragments of reports from the battlefield.

The first hand-held firearms appeared in Europe in the middle of the 15th century. Well. At least that's what people better acquainted with such matters than myself keep telling me.

Before muskets, there were crossbows, and before the crossbows archers had to make do with the bow and arrow.

Suppose you were a reporter, or an officer in charge of the archers, at, say, the Battle of Hastings (1066 A.D.). Did the above phrases have equivalents in those times?

Ricky
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  • They probably used "shoot" in its archaic forms: Old English sceotan "to hurl missiles, cast; strike, hit, push; run, rush; send forth swiftly; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=shoot&allowed_in_frame=0 –  Oct 29 '15 at 09:16
  • Phrases like *to bend or draw a bow, to shoot with (formerly in) a bow.* appear to have been in use during medieval times: *1382 Wyclif 1 Kings xxii. 34* A maner man bente a boowe. a *1400 Cov. Myst. 45* My bowe xal I drawe. - *1562 Heywood Prov. & Epigr.* Many a man speaketh of Robyn hood, That neuer shot in his bowe. - –  Oct 29 '15 at 09:31
  • @Josh61: I can't imagine a commander shouting "Shoot!" to the archers. The vowel just isn't suitable, not really, doesn't have the same ring as "Fire!" But they had to shout something. – Ricky Oct 29 '15 at 09:52
  • Note that *"Fire"* meaning "discharge of firearms, action of guns, etc." is from 1580s. well after the first firearms appeared, assuming your reference is accurate (15th century) . http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=fire –  Oct 29 '15 at 09:54
  • "Loose!" or, more probably, "lose!" would do the trick. Where's @ParthianShot , by the way? – JHCL Oct 29 '15 at 10:03
  • @Josh61: Exactly. Which leads one to believe that other commands were in use prior to that, and lingered on well into the transition period. – Ricky Oct 29 '15 at 10:12
  • See the linked question. –  Oct 29 '15 at 10:14
  • @JHCL: "Lose" has the same problem as "Shoot!": it's pretty hard to project the vowel over a great distance. Who the hell is ParthianShot? Is he an expert on these things? – Ricky Oct 29 '15 at 10:16
  • @Ricky - he is a user here, I'm guessing his name means he has some knowledge of archery. Fair point about the vocal command, though. – JHCL Oct 29 '15 at 10:18
  • Why not moving such an interesting question to the Histoty, or better, the Skeptical sites? –  Oct 29 '15 at 11:34

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