son of a gun

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Son of a gun is a slang term present in American and British English which can be used approvingly, disparagingly or to express surprise. Apollo 12 Astronaut Pete Conrad said, upon seeing the Surveyor 3 just prior to touching down on the Moon: "Hey, there it is! There it is! Son of a gun, right down the middle of the road!"

Origins

British English

It is claimed that in British naval slang this term refers to a child of questionable parentage conceived on the gun deck, hence 'son of a gun'. However, the term possibly predates this claimed origin, and Snopes.com lists it as being part of the English lexicon since at least 1708.^[1] It is sometimes claimed that the saying has its origin in the supposed practice of women travelling on board ship and giving birth on a sectioned off portion of the gun deck. For instance, Admiral William Henry Smyth wrote in his 1867 book, The Sailor's Word-Book:^[2] Son of a gun, an epithet conveying contempt in a slight degree, and originally applied to boys born afloat, when women were permitted to accompany their husbands to sea; one admiral declared he literally was thus cradled, under the breast of a gun-carriage.

American English

In American folk idiom (American), this term has similar meaning to the British one, but was derived from military bureaucratic treatment of young enlisted men of uncertain familial background. If a recruit was unable to state his father's name, officers recorded "A. Gun".^{[citation needed]}

An urban legend sometimes states that a story reported in the October 7, 1864 The American Medical Weekly about a woman impregnated by a bullet that went through a soldier's scrotum and into her abdomen was the origin of the term "son of a gun." The story about the woman was a joke written by dr Legrand G. Capers; some people who read the weekly failed to realize that the story was a joke and reported it as true.^[3]

Other

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary and Webster's Dictionary both define 'son of a gun' term in American English as a euphemism for son of a bitch.^[4][5]

Historian Brian Dowding states that the phrase 'son of a gun' originates from feudal knights' disdain for newly developed firearms.^[6]

Encarta Dictionary defines the term in a different way as someone "affectionately or kindly regarded."^[7]

The term can also be used as an interjection expressing surprise, mild annoyance or disappointment.^[5][7]

The term in popular culture

Music

• Black Oak Arkansas's song "Son of a Gun" from their 1974 album "Street Party".
• KMFDM's release of Xtort had an eighth track named "Son of a Gun".
• In The Documentary, the eleventh track of The Game's debut album, The Documentary, the third verse starts with the line: "Let me tell you why I do this shit, I'm a son of a gun, Cause moms was a Hoover Crip".
• Dntel produced a song called "roll on" which exclaimed "its just no fun, when your heart belongs to a son of a gun."
• Ragtime Cowboy Joe, the fight song of the University of Wyoming, contains the phrase "He's a high-falutin', rootin', tootin', son of a gun from old Wyoming."
• The 1947 hit "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" by Tex Williams uses the expression in the phrase "I'd murder that son of a gun in the first degree." This is an example of the disparaging form of the expression.
• Sgt. Barry Sadler's song "One Son-of-a-Gun of a Gun" about the AR15.
• Roger Miller's song "Dang Me" has the line "My pappy was a pistol, I'm a son of a gun"
• Carly Simon's song "You're So Vain" is introduced by her intoning the phrase "son of a gun". The song was later reworked in "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)" as the third single from Janet Jackson's tenth album, All for You.
• The Vaselines wrote a song titled "Son of a Gun", which was later covered by Nirvana.
• The La's self titled debut album contains another song bearing the title "Son of a Gun".
• JX released a house track titled "Son of a Gun" on the dance music label Hooj Choons.
• The British Iron Maiden vocalist, Bruce Dickinson, named the first song of his first solo album (Tattooed Millionaire) as "Son of a gun."
• "Son of a Gun" is the third track on Dead or Alive's 1986 album Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know.
• Gym Class Heroes - Girlfriend (Cupid's Chokehold) contains the line "If I had to choose her or the sun, I'd be one nocturnal son of a gun."
• "My name is St. Jimmy I'm a son of a gun" in Green Day's song "St. Jimmy" from American Idiot album.
• "Uptight, all night, I'm a son of a gun" in Green Day's song "Uptight" from Nimrod album.
• "Son Of A Gun" is the 9th track on Tommy Emmanuel's 2004 album Endless Road.
• Charlie Daniels's song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", contains the line "I told you once, you son of a gun, that I'm the best there's ever been." In the song, Johnny speaks this line to the Devil after defeating him at a fiddle match. In the Guitar Hero III cover, the word gun is muted because the cover version uses bitch.
• Frank Zappa used this euphemism in his song Bow Tie Daddy: "Just have your fun, you old son of a gun,/ Then drive home in your Lincoln."
• in a recent critically acclaimed Indian movie "Oram Po" ( Tamil language ), a character is named as "son of Gun". The character is an automechanic involved in the illegal autorickshaw Racing (three wheelers) in India.
• The Poets and Pornstars song has a line which goes: "And I've something to say, Momma I'm a son of a gun".
• Blonde Redhead has a song called 23 with the repeated line "he was a son of a gun".
• Jimmy Buffett's song "Son of a Son of a Sailor" from the 1978 album of same name has the phrase in the chorus: "Son of a gun; load the last ton; One step ahead of the jailer".
• Recently used by Stefanie Heinzmann in her first single "My Man is a Mean Man": "He's a mean, mean one, son of a gun".
• A song in Keith Caputo´s new album "A Fondness for Hometown Scars" is called son of a gun.
• In Hank Williams's song "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" (that has been covered by numerous artists), the refrain ends with the phrase "Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou".
• In the Bone Thugs N' Harmony song "Ghetto Cowboy" Krayzie Bone Says: "Now when we get to this saloon, you don't worry, wait outside, Don't be stealin' nobody's damn horses, Stepped inside the bar, Layzie Kid you son of a gun" Layzie Bone later answers with Ey man I'm glad you made it safely, now let's go have some fun, And this my partner Powder, he's a young gun.
• "Son of a Gun" is a name of a swedish demo band.
• In the Bowling For Soup song "Luckiest Loser" there is a line that goes "Your girlfriend is a son of a gun".
• The song "Sad Punk" from the Pixies contains the line "i read something about a son of a gun named extinction".

Film

• In 1919, Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson directed and starred in a western movie titled The Son-of-a-Gun. ^[8]
• In 1926, Paul Hurst directed the yet another Western titled Son of a gun. ^[9]
• In 2007 a Tamil movie "Oram po", which showcases illegal auto racing in Chennai city has a character, who calls himself "Son of Gun"

Television

• In the TV series Columbo, Lieutenant Columbo uses the phrase "I'll be the son of a gun" on several occasions to express (or pretend) Astonishment
• MythBusters had a 2005 episode titled Son of a Gun in which they tested the urban legend that an American Civil War-era child was conceived when a bullet was shot at a soldier, ricocheting off of his tibia, travelling through his scrotum, and puncturing a testicle, picked up some semen, and landed in the abdomen of a nearby woman, impregnating her. The myth was soundly busted, but was published in the post Civil War medical literature.
• In the series Bewitched, Larry Tate calls Darrin Stevens a 'son of a gun' on numerous occasions, usually when expressing admiration for him (eg. for winning an account or being a ladies man).
• The, now retired, WWE professional wrestler Ric Flair used to describe himself as the "Kiss stealin', wheelin' dealin', jet flying, limousine riding, son of a gun"
• "Son of a gun" was the catch phrase of comedian and TV talk show host Joey Bishop.
• Johnny Fratto has a Television Series in production called "Son of a Gun".
• A plural form of the phrase was used twice by actor Sean Penn in his acceptance speech for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Harvey Milk in the film Milk. Penn jokingly referred to the voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as "Commie, homo-loving sons of guns".
• In 1st ending theme named as Homework Ga Owaranai of Yu Yu Hakusho anime was "son of a gun!" term used in lyrics. ^[10]

Video games

• The Son of a gun is a character trait in the roguelike DoomRL.
• Sun of a Gun is a sub-boss in the video game Chrono Cross that resembles a mechanical sun and uses its mechanical "rays" to fire bullets and other projectiles.
• In the soundtrack of Yakuza (Ryu Ga Gotoku), one of the tracks is entitled "son of a gun".

Products

• STP has a series of car care products named "Son of a Gun"; stock car driver Richard Petty appears on the product labelling and corresponding TV commercials.

Notes and references