NCEPR - If I said...

[pixy0stix]

"Someone was taking pot shots at the building."

What do you think I'm talking about?

[ttt]

Someone's shooting at it, possibly drunkenly.

[panicked]

Pot shots= cheap shots = low blows

[Velar Fricative]

Not a clue. I have a feeling it means nothing related to either pot or shots.

[bugandbibs]

They were throwing crap or talking smack.

Pot shots are cheap insults in my book, but the building part conveys a different context.

[penguingrrl]

I would assume they're calling the building ugly.

[redwino]

I would think they were talking smack. The building part would throw me off.

Eta: I guess a person could talk smack about a building's design or location.

[pixy0stix]

Sept 13, 2015 21:08:29 GMT -5 ttt said:

Someone's shooting at it, possibly drunkenly.

This.

But based on the other answers, maybe my husband isn't quite the idiot I thought he was.

Someone was shooting at a local hospital, and I said, "Someone was taking pot shots at the new hospital." He had no idea what I was talking about.

[ksun]

yes, taking cheap shots/talking shit.

[josieposy]

Sept 13, 2015 21:15:02 GMT -5 @kirkette said:

Shit talking , but I don't know who shit talk a building.

This was my thought process as well.

[sushi]

Yeah, it's shit talk not actual shots. A cheap shot. Potentially literal, but not usually

Eta apparently it has its origin in shooting for the pot instead of shooting for sport.

[pixy0stix]

FTR - taking actual shots from a gun, AND taking verbal shots are both right.

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/potshot

[ttt]

Sept 13, 2015 21:20:18 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Sept 13, 2015 21:08:29 GMT -5 ttt said:

Someone's shooting at it, possibly drunkenly.

This.

But based on the other answers, maybe my husband isn't quite the idiot I thought he was.

Someone was shooting at a local hospital, and I said, "Someone was taking pot shots at the new hospital." He had no idea what I was talking about.

Thank you! I was starting to second guess myself after reading these replies.

[josieposy]

So what happened at the hospital?

[pixy0stix]

Sept 13, 2015 21:38:34 GMT -5 josieposy said:

So what happened at the hospital?

Fort Collins police are investigating Saturday's shooting that damaged the Banner Fort Collins Medical Center, off Harmony Road.

Employees at the new hospital, 4700 Lady Moon Drive, reported an unknown individual shot at the building several times sometime Saturday night. Police discovered evidence that the building and a window had been shot but found no one of interest in the area, Deputy Chief Cory Christensen told the Coloradoan Sunday night.

No one was injured, and there are no suspects at this time.

Because the investigation is ongoing, police are not releasing what evidence was found at the scene.

www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2015/09/13/shots-fired-banner/72233238/

[pixy0stix]

There's also been a string of cars with their windows shot out along the interstate, and 2 men have died. They have no leads other than a generic truck that looks like most of the farm trucks around here.

[miniroller]

If you haven't yet shared with your h that both definitions are correct, please, please tell him you are sorry for taking pot shots at him on a message board
Doesn't take much, folks.

[emilyj]

Taking pot shots = talking shit/low blows/smack talk to me.

[pixy0stix]

Well, no. He DID think that people were injecting pot into their arm. So.... LOL! I'm more thinking that I didn't realize that it was a regional thing.

[FloFTW]

I've never heard it be used literally to refer to gunshots, but it makes sense

But you Colorado people think everything's about weed!

[Michelle]

My mind immediately went to insulting a building and the only context I could fit that into was perhaps making fun of something Ted on HIMYM liked...

Thanks for explaining.

[vlagrl]

shooting but not really getting a good aim at it. shooting randomly i guess?

[meshaliuknits]

I've heard "pot shots" to mean gunfire, sucker punches & smack talk. In this context I would assume gunfire because it makes the most sense.

[litebright]

I know it can mean either actual shooting or smack talk and I would assume the first, since a building was involved. I thought the shooting context was that a pot shot was a bad shot, not an easy shot/ambush like that dictionary definition -- but given the way it's used in a smack talk context, it makes sense.

[katfco]

The original meaning was to shoot without worrying about marksmanship or sport, i.e. just to get the animal in the "pot." If it was about a person, I would assume it was referring to someone taking verbal shots at another, but if it was about an object, I'd definitely assume it was about a gun.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Sept 13, 2015 21:22:05 GMT -5 josieposy said:

Sept 13, 2015 21:15:02 GMT -5 @kirkette said:

Shit talking , but I don't know who shit talk a building.

This was my thought process as well.

Me too. That sentence didn't make sense to me.

[nomad100]

In relation to an inanimate object, I would assume that pot shot meant actual gunfire.

In relation to a person, I would assume it meant a verbal low blow.

[irishbride2]

I've never heard it used in relation to actually shooting something.

It is in reference to a low blow or talking smack.

eta: idioms.thefreedictionary.com/take+a+pot+shot


Although ditto those who have not heard it used towards inanimate objects.