Talk:Fire in the hole

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[edit] Cannon origin?

I was told at a demonstration of Revolutionary War technology that the phrase "fire in the hole!" refers to the touchhole of a cannon. Once a fire has been touched to the hole, the cannon's firing is imminent. Seems like cannon have been around a lot longer than has the use of dynamite in mining.

[edit] Misc

My source for the toilet-flush warning is a colleague who has served in the US Army. He says the phrase brings up painful memories of inadequate plumbing at many old barracks buildings.

No call is made when a grenade is thrown in the open? Does that depend on the type of grenade? When throwing a fragmentation grenade, I thought people yelled "frag out!". Kim Bruning 22:17, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

I removed this, given the mining origin of the phrase (a hole bored into the rock, and then loaded with explosives). If there's a good source for this, feel free to restore it.

[edit] Common Misconception

The real phrase is "Fire in the Hold." But due to its its use on the night the Titanic went down people have said hole since then for reasons unknown.

Whilst I cannot cite a source, I have always believed that it is, indeed, "Fire in the Hold". The usage coming from Naval warfare, where the gunpowder would be kept in barrels in the Powder Hold. If, during combat, a fire were to break out in the powder hold, a person would yell "Fire in the Hold", indicating to his crewmates that a large explosion was imminent.

82.25.248.69 19:56, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

If Google hits count for anything (which they usually don't, but take it for what it's worth), "fire in the hole" gets 451,000 hits, "fire in the hold" gets 816. (Just 816, not even a thousand). Some of the former may be Wikipedia mirrors and whatnot, but I'd say we have a winner. --192.127.94.7 23:20, 28 October 2007 (UTC)