Talk:fire at will

Geico commenrcial

The term is ambiguous in spoken language: [1]. DCDuring (talk) 11:51, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

RFD discussion: October–December 2017

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fire at will

Seems like it's just fire and at will combined. You can "shoot at will" or "stab at will" or "hit at will" or just "watch TV at will" if, for some bizarre reason, you don't want to harm anyone. 96.70.144.241

The usage notes suggest it's more than that, at least in the military. Equinox ◑ 21:54, 29 October 2017 (UTC)

Does it? That's the same usage as any other verb. "Sleep!" means "go to sleep now" just like "Fire!" does. "Sleep at will" means "sleep whenever you like" just like "fire at will" does. 96.70.144.241 21:55, 29 October 2017 (UTC)

• Keep. Definitely a set form. Compare something like "fire as you wish". bd2412 T 01:09, 30 October 2017 (UTC)

I'd say delete. Could at will have been extracted from this specific phrase and applied to other verbs, btw? --Barytonesis (talk) 13:44, 31 October 2017 (UTC)

Easy to find numerous examples of "[VERB] at will" at Google Books. DCDuring (talk) 12:00, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

• Keep Sonofcawdrey (talk) 04:08, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

Delete What makes the imperative form so special? march#Verb can be used as a command. We have no verb entry for cease fire or return fire. Though we may have many commands, presumably because they are not completely transparent (not SoP), we are not obliged to have entries for all the commands ever to appear in any English-language military manual. DCDuring (talk) 18:37, 4 November 2017 (UTC)

We should have an entry for cease fire - both as a set phrase for the command to literally stop firing a weapon (and by derivation, to stop being hostile even when no weapon is involved), and as WT:COALMINE attested alternate spelling of ceasefire. bd2412 T 04:53, 8 November 2017 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that COALMINE applies because "cease fire" is a verb while "ceasefire" is a noun. Equinox ◑ 15:17, 9 November 2017 (UTC)

@Equinox I mean that the noun is sometimes spelled with the space, i.e., 2004, R. Elizabeth Migliore, Evening Flower: "On August 4 there was a cease fire in Java, the battle had lasted all of two weeks"; 1996, Tom Sine, Cease Fire: Searching for Sanity in America's Culture Wars, p. 280: "I also encourage all of us to begin the cease fire in America's culture war by taking the initiative of inviting someone from the other camp to lunch". bd2412 T 16:02, 9 November 2017 (UTC)

Hmmm I don't like it, but usage rules! Equinox ◑ 03:30, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

• Comment. I believe there is benefit in including set-phrase SoPs, if the rules can be framed to accommodate this. Mihia (talk) 03:02, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

• Keep It is a phrase that had been in use for a long time. Gary "Roach" Sanderson (talk) 20:04, 14 November 2017 (UTC)

  So have so many expressions. DCDuring (talk) 12:00, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

• The ambiguity is speech has come to wide public attention in the US: [2]. DCDuring (talk) 12:00, 19 November 2017 (UTC)
  • Kept. No consensus.--Jusjih (talk) 04:05, 24 December 2017 (UTC)