Well shot of

Posted by ESC on June 23, 2009 at 12:15

In Reply to: Well shot of posted by Salsa on June 22, 2009 at 19:33:

: What is the origin of the phrase "to be well shot of someone"?

In West Virginia, to get shut of someone is to get rid of that person. "She was glad to be shut of him." Be done with him. shut -- "to set (one) free from (something)." 1827. Get shut of, for get rid of. "...'shot' is attested as a form of 'shut' in both Brit and US dial (dialect)..." From "Dictionary of American Regional English," Volume IV by Joan Houston Hall (2002, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London, England). Page 946.

Of course, if she shot him, she'd be shut of him. But then there there would be pesky legal complications.