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Reader question: Please explain “cheap shot” in this sentence: My view is that your editorial was a cheap shot. My comments: First of all, an editorial is an opinionated article representing the views of a newspaper as an organization. Apparently the said newspaper wrote an editorial criticizing someone or something and the speaker in our example disagrees with the criticism, calling it unfair. That’s about it. At any rate that’s what “cheap shot” means. A cheap shot is literally an attack that is considered cheap, low in value or moral estimation. Mostly cheap shots refer to unsportsmanlike behavior of one type or another. In boxing, for example, boxers are not allowed to hit each other on the back of the head to prevent injury. They’re not allowed to hit each other in areas below the belt, for obvious reasons. If you watch a lot of boxing matches on TV, you’ll notice that boxers do hit their opponents on the back of the head or below the belt sometimes. Actually, it happens quite often but almost always by accident. And when it happens, the referee stops the fight and gives the offender a verbal warning. If it happens repeatedly, the perpetrator may lose points or even the match itself. Anyways, like I said, hitting opponents on the back of the head or under the belt happens by accident. However, if someone intentionally hits an opponent on the back of the head or below the belt in order to gain an unfair advantage, then such hits or shots are considered cheap shots. | 
