potshot (n.)

also pot-shot, 1836, "shot taken at animal simply to 'get it in the pot,' " that is, not for sport or marksmanship and with little heed paid to the preservation of the animal; from pot (n.1) + shot (n.). Extended sense of "piece of opportunistic criticism" first recorded 1926. Compare pot-hunter. Earlier as an adjective it meant "drunk" (17c.).