A shot across the bows?_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

A shot across the bows?

Literally, a shot across the bows is a warning shot, signaling that worse will come if the warning is ignored.

That is, if the warning shot across the bows are ignored, the next shots will be aimed at the ship itself.

Hence, metaphorically, when people send such shots across the bow of other people, they mean to warn them to stop doing what they do or face serious consequences.

Clear?

All right. Here are media examples:

1. If a “shot across the bow” is a warning to someone to stop what they are doing or face potentially serious action, I would say Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services certainly fired one this week.

The phrase originated centuries ago when ships meeting at sea might have difficulty determining whether the approaching vessel was friend or enemy without benefit of high-powered communications or optics. One captain would order that a cannon ball be fired harmlessly over the other ship as a sign that colors should be shown or action would be taken. Even now, such shots might be fired in military confrontations if attempts at radio contact fail; they typically imply the intention to shoot to kill.

Earlier this week, Standard & Poor's, the nation’s pre-eminent agency monitoring the default risk associated with debt of various kinds, issued a clear warning that Congress should get its act together and make real progress toward a long-term solution to the inextricably linked problems of debt and deficits. Specifically, S&P affirmed the AAA long-term and A-1 short-term sovereign credit rates on the U.S., but revised its outlook on the long-term ratings from “stable” to “negative.” The ratings agency went on to note strengths including a high-income, highly diversified economy, and track record of supporting growth while containing inflation. These strengths were judged to outweigh the nation's economic and fiscal risks as well as large debtor position.