call the shots

他們背后還有人指使。

They have other people behind them calling the shots.

不理解，請教點評

My comments:

If you have other people behind you calling the shots, you’re just doing what you are told to do. In other words, they’re the ones who make the decisions, not you.

Still in other words, they’re the ones who are in the position of power. You are not.

Calling the shots is probably an idiom borrowed from the army, where soldiers line up and aim at a target and cannot shoot before hearing for orders from their superiors. Only after hearing the order of “Fire!” do they let the bullets fly, so to speak.

And he who gives the orders of “Fire” is the one who calls the shots. And apparently he’s the one who’s in charge. The soldiers are merely obeying orders.

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Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.