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 “The Matrix?” There are several senses where the character Neo literally has to dodge bullets. 

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.  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 “Dodge the bullet”.

• 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. I’ve been great. Just got back from a vacation.

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

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

Ron: 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: Crazy! You were lucky.

Duke: Yep! We really dodge the bullet there!

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

ditch

elude

escape

sidestep

escape

evade

skirt

serendipitous

fortunate

fluke

by accident

Collocations:

We really dodged the bullet.

We were lucky to have dodged the bullet.

Looks like I dodged the bullet on that one.

Related phrasal verbs:

Get out of- 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 didn’t have to listen to the CEO’s rant about declining sales.

Close call– 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- 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.  He always seems to dodge the high-priced bullet!

Near miss- 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- 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- is a phrase we use to indicate one single remedy can cure a illness or injury.

Silver Bullet- 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- in a figurative sense, this is an idiom used to describe someone or something putting themselves in harm’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- we use this to say that someone is fortunate, usually meaning they have avoided an unpleasant or unwanted event.

Stroke of luck- 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