call the shots

English

Etymology

From sports. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “What sport? What shots are called?”)

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

call the shots (third-person singular simple present calls the shots, present participle calling the shots, simple past and past participle called the shots)

1. (chiefly US) To make the decisions; to be in charge; to give orders.

   Synonym: call the tune

   • 1994 January 25, Bill Clinton, William Jefferson Clinton's Second State of the Union Address‎^[1]:

     In today's health care system, insurance companies call the shots. They pick whom they cover and how they cover them. They can cut off your benefits when you need your coverage the most. They are in charge.

   • 2019 July 4, Michael Sullivan, “In Myanmar, Methamphetamine, Synthetic Drug Production Soars”, in NPR.org‎^[2]:

     Myanmar's Shan state, which borders both China and Thailand, is the wild wild east. And in many parts of the state, it's well-armed ethnic militias, not Myanmar's military, who call the shots.

   • 2021 June 22, Ali Vaez, Dina Esfandiary, “The Hard-Liners Won in Iran. That’s Not All Bad News.”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:

     The conventional wisdom in Washington is that Iran’s elections are insignificant. Regardless of who wins, the argument goes, in the end, it’s the supreme leader who calls the shots.

Derived terms

• shot caller

Translations

to make decisions

• Bulgarian: поръчвам музиката (porǎčvam muzikata)
• Catalan: donar la nota, tallar el bacallà (ca), remenar les cireres
• Finnish: määrätä (fi), tehdä päätökset
• French: décider (fr), commander (fr)
• German: den Ton angeben; sagen, wo es langgeht
• Russian: зака́зывать му́зыку (ru) (zakázyvatʹ múzyku), заправля́ть (ru) (zapravljátʹ),
• Spanish: cortar el bacalao, llevar la voz cantante, llevar la batuta, mandar (es)

See also

• rule the roost

Further reading

• “call the shots v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present