choose one's fighter

English

Etymology

From certain fighting games where players may select from a variety of playable characters with unique fighting styles, special moves, and personalities.

Verb

choose one's fighter (third-person singular simple present chooses one's fighter, present participle choosing one's fighter, simple past chose one's fighter, past participle chosen one's fighter)

1. (idiomatic, slang, often imperative) To select something as one's preferred choice from a set of related things, people etc.

   Synonyms: choose one's player, pick one's fighter

   • 2019 September 16, Ammar Kalia, Phil Harrison, Hannah Verdier, Paul Howlett, “TV tonight: a harrowing, vital look at life in prison”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Choose your fighter: the golden arches or the golden crown. This one-off doc charts how two of the most recognisable brands in the world grew from homespun enterprises to become the fast-food behemoths they are today.

   • 2021 April 25, Ben Smith, “Is an Activist’s Pricey House News? Facebook Alone Decides.”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     Facebook alone will balance competing values like newsworthiness against privacy, or the old print belief in transparency against the digital aversion to “doxxing” — that is, publishing people’s identifying information against their will. And in the standoff with The Post this month, all you can do is choose your fighter: Mark Zuckerberg or Rupert Murdoch.

   • 2022, Christina Tosi, All About Cookies: A Milk Bar Baking Book, New York, NY: Clarkson Potter, →ISBN, page 53:

     Adding layers of texture to a cookie by folding in ground-down bits of goodness is one of our favorite ways to pack a big punch, but you need to choose your fighter wisely. If you pick something too smooth, your cookie won't gain any oomph, and if you choose something too flavorful, your cookie may end up overwhelming (sorry, Flamin' Hot Cheetos).