3月
02
2009
在同一期的读者反馈上，《泰晤士报》的Sally Baker说自从上周有读者指出 in the firing line 是指“开火”而不是“被打”之后，又有读者来信说，in the firing line 也可以用来形容“被打”，证据是在《牛津简明英语辞典》上：
The Concise OED definition of ‘in the firing line‘ is: ‘1. The front line of troops in a battle; 2. A position where one is subject to criticism or blame.’
但是显然Sally Baker的字典(Collins English Dictionary)上没有这种说法。《卫报》的“文字规范”(Style guide)显然支持她的观点。原因很简单：他们用的同一本字典。
firing line
the people who do the firing; if they are aiming at you, you are in the line of fire not in the firing line.
2月
22
2009
《泰晤士报》负责读者反馈的编辑 Sally Baker 在星期六的专栏中有这么一段：
Allowed a front-page headline “Bankers in the firing line” when, as Robert Colbeck, among others, pointed out: “If you are in the firing line you are the one doing the shooting. If you are being shot at (presumably the image the headline-writer was striving for) you are either under fire or in the line of fire.”
原来我也一直以为 in the firing line 是指“面对炮火”，遭到攻击的意思。经以上这位读者解释，in the firing line 其实是指处于“射击线”上向目标开火。一个是被打，一个个打别人，意义大相径庭。
但是把这个意思搞错的不只《泰晤士报》一家，几个例子：
Forbes.com: Britain’s Bonuses in the Firing Line 说的是银行奖金遭攻击
Daily Mail: Defenc funding in the firing line 说得是国防开支缩减
但在 BBC网站上的新闻标题是用对了这个词组：
BBC: Child soldiers in the firing line 说得是非洲的未成年士兵参战
