Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Comments on Etymology of "son of a gun"

Post

Etymology of "son of a gun"

+4
−1

What's the origin of the expression "son of a gun"?

This comic explains a possible origin: British Navy used to allow women on naval ships, and any child born on board who had uncertain paternity would be called "son of a gun" (because "gun" would be a slang for "a military guy"). This is supported by other sources, such as this and this.

But Wiktionary says that "Folk etymologies suggesting nautical origins are not supported by evidence".

Considering those contraditory sources, which one is correct?

Is the kid-born-on-a-ship history true? In case it's not, what would be the origin of this expression?


According to Merriam-Webster, Cambridge and Collins dictionaries, "son of a gun" is an euphemism for "son of a b*tch", but I'm not interested in how the expression became an euphemism, only in its origin, regardless of the meaning it has today.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

1 comment thread

General comments (8 comments)
General comments
msh210‭ wrote about 4 years ago

"The expression "son of a gun' is an euphemism for 'son of a b*tch'." I highly doubt this. I strongly suspect the two developed independently. I have no support for saying so, though, but, then, neither do you provide any support for your claim to the contrary.

Moshi‭ wrote about 4 years ago

@msh210 support for "The expression "son of a gun' is an euphemism for 'son of a b*tch'": Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/son%20of%20a%20gun) Cambridge dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/son-of-a-gun) Collins dictionary (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/son-of-a-gun, see AME section)

msh210‭ wrote about 4 years ago · edited about 4 years ago

Well, then, @Moshi , there's the origin. Someone took "son of a bitch" and substituted a word he didn't like. What's the question, then?

hkotsubo‭ wrote about 4 years ago

@Moshi Thanks for the links, I've added them to the question.

hkotsubo‭ wrote about 4 years ago

@msh210 I just wanted to provide some context about the expression's meaning. But if it's not relevant to the question (which is "what's its origin?"), I can remove the first paragraph.

msh210‭ wrote about 4 years ago

Not sure what you're asking, really. If it's known to be a euphemism, isn't that its etymology? Or do you mean as follows? "Son of a gun has an older sense, which I'm seeking the etymology of. Later, it was also used as a euphemism…."

hkotsubo‭ wrote about 4 years ago

@msh210 I've edited the question again, hope it's clear now.