Shoot the bull

where did "shoot the bull" come from

steve

early dart boards were the ends of barrels and some bright spark decided to paint concentric rings to make it more challenging. the original "bulls-eye" was black and white, not the red-green used today. a bull's eye is a roundel of black with white outside - hence the comparison.

shooting at "the bull" is short for aiming for "the bull's-eye"

hope that helps.

L

"Shoot the bull" is small talk, chatting - usually used for talk amongst men - also "shoot the ****." We're going to go down to the bar, toss back some cold ones and shoot the bull until the game starts. RRC