Friends do some pretty crappy things as well. Kill you for insurance money, have an affair with your wife, etc.
Actually, according to the OED, “friendly” can mean:
- a. Not hostile or at variance; on amicable terms.
Fire by your own troops may be disasterous, but it is definitely not hostile.
Note that, since “fire” is a noun, “friendly” is an adjective. The adverb form would be “in a friendly way,” but that doesn’t apply to the construction.
What makes it automatically something good if it’s associated with a friend? If your best friend runs off with your wife, that’s not usually considered a good thing.
The term is a pretty good description of what is happening. Other than the overly pedantic thinking there’s something wrong in the association (generally without ever being able to put a finger on exactly what), it clearly indicates the situation.
The problem is only that people can’t differentiate between an adverb (“in a friendly manner”) and an adjective (“non-hostile”).
I dunno, the term “whoopsie” comes to mind.
“Maam, I am sorry to say that your husband was killed by a whoopsie…”
Hmmmm … needs more work…
Whats the opposite of enemy besides friend?
Whats wrong with calling it “Allied fire” ?
Oopshot
Considering what though probably first goes through the minds of both the shooter and the shootee (if he lives long enough to have one) when they realize what’s just happened, I’d vote for ‘Oh Shit’-incident
I do not.
It’s a phrase everybody understands, why mess with it?
The word manhole was “changed”, and some people refer to “personholes”. Seems awfully absurd to me.
Just MHO
My take on it is that it is based upon the noun friendly, not the adjective friendly. “Friendlies” are folks on our side. Hence, “friendly fire” is fire that comes from a friendly.