Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A person; a fellow: That son of a gun knows how to sell cars and sell them well.
- n. A rascal; a scamp: That son of gun is always playing practical jokes.
- interj. Used to express annoyance, disappointment, or surprise.
Wiktionary
- n. euphemistic son of a bitch
Etymologies
- The U.S. Navy publication Nomenclature of Ships (John Snelling, 1981) describes the origin of this phrase as follows: (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The son of a gun lifts it twelve times, and a huge grin rushes across his beet-red face.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘son of a gun’.
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spicolli's Words
terrapin, ravenous, fuck, sepulchral, garlic, suss, queer, curmudgeon, foodie, intricate, omphalos, subversion and 534 more...
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Three Sheets to the Wind
Common words or phrases of nautical origin that have taken on different or metaphorical meanings. Chained_bear and I tossed a coin over who would make the list. I won (or lost, depending on how you...
scuttlebutt, taken aback, brass monkey, boot camp, clean bill of health, three sheets to t..., the devil to pay, between the devil..., by and large, the whole nine yards, mind your ps and qs, slush fund and 116 more...
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Tunie: The Devil Went Down to Georgia
The devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal.
He was in a bind 'cos he was way behind: he was willin' to make a deal.
When he came across this young man sawin' on ...mount, son of a gun, granny, dough, bread pan, risin' sun, chair, demon, hiss, evil, fingertip, broke loose and 14 more...
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minced oaths
expostulations which originated as euphemisms for a stronger, socially unsanctioned, word or expression
strewth, zounds, land sakes, jiminy cricket, gorblimey, drat, begorrah, cripes, doggone it, gadzooks, odds bodkins, sacre bleu and 78 more...
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Watch Your Language, Young Man
Ahh, euphemisms. Every schoolkid's favorite pastime. They sound so naughty, but you can't really get in trouble for using them, can you?
darn, dang, shoot, shucks, flip, geez, gee whiz, golly, son of a gun, crud, shyster, holy schnikes and 58 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for son of a gun.
gangerh Never daughter of a gun? Jun 22, 2008
johnmperry Derived from the days when women were allowed to live in naval ships. The ‘son-of-a-gun’ was one born in a ship, often in the greater space near the midship gun, behind a canvas screen. If paternity was uncertain, the child was entered in the ship’s log as a “Son-of-a-gun.�? Jun 22, 2008