September 18, 1996

lock and load

The sound bites from Pat Buchanan were driving me crazy during the Republican primary. What does "lock and load" refer to and why was he using it?

Lock and load is a metaphor of military origin. Its current, mainstream use is in the sense 'to prepare oneself for imminent action or confrontation'. In other words, "Get ready!"

The reference is to the loading of ammunition in a gun. The version of the command to chamber a round that's most familiar to World War II veterans seems to be load and lock, that is, load the ammunition and lock the weapon in firing position. More recently, the more popular version--and the only one used in this metaphorical sense--is reversed to lock and load, that is, lock the weapon in the safety position and then load the ammunition.

This expression has been in use since World War II. It seems to have spread beyond the military only in the last several years.