On the question of 'triggers'
Everyday, ordinary fools seem to confuse themselves with guns.
When I was twelve years old I was given a shotgun for Christmas.
It is a single shot twenty gauge Winchester.
When I pull the trigger, the response is almost instantaneous.
When I pull the trigger, there’s no going back.
There is very loud sound.
There are smells.
There is smoke.
The gun explodes backward into my shoulder.
The shot blasts out of the muzzle.
It is a brief, dangerous and violent process.
When people discuss emotional triggers, it makes me think about how actual triggers work in reality. I do not think that trigger is a very good term.
Let’s start with the etymology of ‘trigger’
"device by means of which a catch or spring is released and a mechanism set in action," 1650s, earlier tricker (1620s), from Dutch trekker "trigger," from trekken "to pull" (see trek). Tricker was the usual form in English until c. 1750. Trigger-finger "forefinger as used to pull the trigger of a gun" is attested by 1814. Trigger-happy "ready to shoot (or otherwise react violently) on the s…
