English Phrasal Verbs (100/365) - Shoot Up Something/Shoot Something Up

in englishphrasalverbs •  7 years ago  (edited)

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To shoot up something means damaging something greatly by shooting.

Example sentence:

  • The criminals inside the building threatened to shoot it up unless the police comply with their demands.

Notice the particle up. Like in many other cases, it denotes doing something to completion. For example, eat up means everything on your plate or shut up means becoming completely silent. If you shoot up something, that something will often become FUBAR ( = fucked up beyond all recognition).

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Been really busy. Nearly missed it and yes it is used quite often. I like FUBAR though. Never heard that one and will use that.

Military slang.

You can shoot up a building (with a gun) or shoot up some heroin (with a needle).

Friend that happens here all the time, and you know the worst thing is that it's not a true story, the criminals in this country have better arming than the police, but we tell the police that they are criminals with uniforms and weapons.

The criminals inside the building threatened to shoot it up unless the police comply with their demands.

hahah when the movie saving private ryan came out, I used FUBAR to refer to everything that went wrong, but it never occurred to me to look for what was his acronym, haha one trully never knows what will learn today.

I think I knew this one. Thanks for sharing.