spray and pray
Fire without aiming
Spray and pray describes firing a weapon rapidly and indiscriminately, hoping to hit something without careful aim.
The term originated in military and gaming contexts but extends to any scattershot approach lacking precision or strategy: Their marketing plan was pure spray and pray—blast emails to everyone and hope someone bites.
The phrase implies wastefulness and low odds of success.
- scattergunFirearm firing spread pellets
- shotgun approachUnfocused, broad-based strategy
- randomOccurring without pattern
- unfocusedWithout clear direction
- hip fireShooting without using sights
cold calling · mass email · fire and forget · button mashing · indiscriminate · haphazard · trial and error · throw spaghetti at the wall · buckshot · spec script · suppressive fire · photography · machine gun · carpet bombing · run-and-gun · collateral damage · overgeneralization · overkill
spray and praysharpshooting
Expert precision with firearms
precision shooting · marksmanship · sniper fire · surgical strike · pinpoint accuracy
spray and praysurgical precision
Extreme exactness in execution
precision strike · quality over quantity · measured response · less is more
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