What does Dodge The Bullet mean?

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What does Dodge The Bullet mean

If you overheard someone say that they dodge the bullet, you might think they are a police officer, maybe a soldier or even a criminal. Have you seen the movie โ€œThe Matrix?โ€ There are several senses where the character Neo literally has to dodge bullets.ย 

There is a scene This is an interesting idiom and as with most idioms they have a figurative meaning. If we consider the word dodge, this means to move out of the way of something usually in a quick manner. Bullet, well it commonly known as a projectile that comes from a gun and can kill people.

It is also known as a symbol used to signify a list in a document. In a figurative sense, it is something that can cause a person a problem or harmful situation or something that is a close call.

The origins of this idiom date back to WWW I where soldiers talked about having sloe calls with getting shot but they managed to move out of the way before getting hit with a bullet or artillery shells.

As time went on, bullets and artillery shells became harder to avoid as the became faster.ย  So dodging a bullet became known as a close call and often difficult to avoid.

Meaning:

When we use this idiomatic phrase, we describe barely avoiding something that has the very real potential to harm or be disastrous.

Examples of โ€œDodge the bulletโ€.

  • She was about to marry the guy when she found out his girlfriend was pregnant with this child. She really dodged the bullet there!
  • We were about to buy a house and just before we were going to sign the papers, an earthquake destroyed most of the area. Talk about dodging a bullet!

Dialog:

Ron: Duke! How have you been?

Duke: Hey Ron, great to see you. Iโ€™ve been great. Just got back from a vacation.

Ron:ย Right, you told me last time we talked you were going to the Bahamas.

Duke:ย Well, actually, we ended up changing our minds at the last minute because we got an amazing deal in Vietnam.

Ron:ย Wow! Fantastic. That sounds like it was a good thing as the Bahamas just got hit by a Hurricane, right?

Duke: Yeah, a bad one. Many people her killed and their holidays ruined because of the storm.

Ron:ย Crazy! You were lucky.

Duke: Yep! We really dodge the bullet there!

Other words you can create: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc. (ex: mug โ€“ mugger)

ditch

elude

escape

sidestep

escape

evade

skirt

serendipitous

fortunate

fluke

by accident

Collocations:

We reallyย dodged the bullet.

We were lucky to have dodged the bullet.

Looks likeย I dodged the bullet on that one.

Related phrasal verbs:

Get out of-ย in the context of dodge the bullet we use this phrasal verb to describe a situation where someone avoids someone or something they dislike.

  • We were lucky to get out of that meeting, we really dodged the bullet and didnโ€™t have to listen to the CEOโ€™s rant about declining sales.

Close callโ€“ย we use this phrasal verb to describe a unpleasant or harmful situation or event that someone narrowly escapes from or avoids.

  • Phew! That was a close call almost running into my ex-girlfriend. I dodged the bullet on her seeing me with her best friend at the movies.

Close Shave- as with close call, we use this to describe a narrow escape from a dangerous situation or disastrous event.

  • You were very lucky to dodge the bullet again, you are always having close shaves with the police catching you speeding.

To luck out-ย when we use the luck out in the context of dodge a bullet, means that someone has escaped an unlucky and potential harmful event.

  • He always lucks out and gets the best deals.ย  He always seems to dodge the high-priced bullet!

Near miss-ย a near miss means a person or thing almost experienced a dangerous situation but narrowly escaped it.

  • That care almost hit us, a near miss! That driver dodged the bullet of an insurance claim as it would have been his fault.

Lucky break-ย when someone gets a lucky break it means they were fortune an event, decision or activity that might have caused harm.

  • Some people get lucky breaks and manage to dodge the bullet of a tax audit. It is just by chance they do not get selected.

Related idioms:

Magic bullet-ย is a phrase we use to indicate one single remedy can cure a illness or injury.

Silver Bullet-ย this idiom is used to indicating that something provides and instant and effective solution to a difficult problem or situation.

Take a/the bullet for someone-ย in a figurative sense, this is an idiom used to describe someone or something putting themselves in harmโ€™s way or sacrificing themselves to protect someone else.

Bite the bullet- when we bite the bullet we accept or do an activity that is not liked.

The way the cookie crumbles- when we experience a good or bad outcome that is fate or by chance.

Lucky-dog-ย we use this to say that someone is fortunate, usually meaning they have avoided an unpleasant or unwanted event.

Stroke of luck-ย this is used to say someone has experienced a fortunate event that was not predicted or expected.

Synonyms (other ways to say):

Narrow escape

Close call

Near miss

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Natalie
Natalie
Guest
2 years ago

Itโ€™s doge a bullet not dodge the bullet