A three legged dog walked into a bar and said, “I’m searching for the man who shot my paw. He looks like half fugu and half tofu.”
Shouldn’t the word うった use the kanji as 撃った rather than 打った？ My dictionary (not reliable) didn’t have 打つ as “shoot”, whereas I’m quite familiar with 撃つ as shoot. Can 打つ be used for “shoot” as well? Or is it a mistake?
Also, for what it’s worth. Good English style would probably require a “three-legged” rather than “three legged.”
I checked Goo辞書, and it doesn’t have 打つ as being used for “to shoot,” nor as it being able to be written with any other kanji. It lists 叩く and 殴る as synonyms, which both also mean “to hit; to strike.” 撃つ is a separate word, which can also be written, irregularly, as 射つ.
It seems the only time 打つ and 撃つ can be used for the same thing is when it’s ぶつ, which also means “to hit; to strike” and is usually written in kana besides.
In some kun’yomi compounds involving shooting (like 打ち手 “shooter” and 鳥打ち “shooting birds”), either can be used, but it doesn’t look like 打 itself has much tie to shooting, whereas 撃 does. So it does appear to be a mistake, yes.
