What does “come in guns blazing” mean in American English?
Indian Bank Robbery Joke And Tech Support Stereotype
B1 English listening practice · American English · Picked for people who know some
Come in guns blazing is a common American English phrase from action movies and Western films. To do something “guns blazing” means you enter a place fast and loud, ready to fight. The image is a cowboy or police officer kicking open the door, both guns going off at once. Today people use the phrase even when there are no real guns: a boss who walks into a meeting “guns blazing” is just shouting and angry from the start.
In this stand-up clip, the comedian uses the phrase to start a bank-robbery story: “you need to come in there guns blazing.” It’s a quick way to say “be aggressive, like a cowboy in a movie.”
How common are the words?
How common are the words in this B1 English listening practice video?
How common in written English
How common in spoken English
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-US 2012 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In American Western and action films (True Grit, John Wick, Heat)
- ▸In American sports talk about a team that starts strong (Stephen A. Smith, Pat McAfee)
- ▸In American workplace talk about a boss who arrives angry
- ▸In American video-game streams (Twitch streamers describing aggressive play)
- ▸In American parents joking about kids running into a room