The word "shoot" isn't very well understood in English class. Today in class, we had to describe a picture of some kids playing basket ball. The teacher and students thought, "They are shooting." was an acceptable answer. At another class some years back, they were describing a child with a camera at a basket ball game. The teacher described it as, "Tina is shooting her friends." Me, both times: what you said means this. *shoots a finger gun* Click here for something fun to read~
"Tina is shooting her friends," made me chuckle more than it's supposed to. I pictured a little girl going full Rambo on her friends, even after knowing the context. This could be funny or problematic in the future. Imagine someone asking, "Can I shoot you?" when they want to take a person's picture—hopefully, with the camera not hidden in a bag.
well, they're not technically wrong, especially with the basketball example. though it does sound weird without the context.
I wouldn’t say that’s incorrect, though it is obviously easy to misunderstand. “They are shooting hoops” and “Tina is shooting photos of her friends” would be better answers. But “shooting” in and of itself does not mean shooting a gun.
There are more. Shooting in the context of drugs/needles. (The doctor shot me with [injected medication] ) Shooting pool. "Oh, shoot." Shooting a movie. Pool and movie are used same as basketball and photo. Edit: I looked it up and found another I'd forgotten. "4. in. to begin to tell [something]. Okay, shoot. I’m all ears."
Though the irony of this song is that Spoiler Hamilton is singing about seizing opportunity in this song, but the finally conclusion is that he does miss his (literal instead of figurative) shot at the key moment and dies from a bullet wound by the end of the musical.