stagecoach guards rode shotgun - they just didn't call it that in the 1880s, as far as anyone has yet discovered. The term "riding shotgun" to refer to the guard sitting next to the driver doesn't emerge from the Old West but rather from movies and TV shows about the Old West. To date no one has found a cite for "riding shotgun" during the time stagecoaches were actually used.
The earliest usage we've found in pulp fiction occurs in the March 27, 1921 issue of the Washington Post's "Magazine of Fiction," in a story entitled "The Fighting Fool" by Dane Coolidge.(See Examples)
In the classic 1939 movie Stagecoach: Curly, the sheriff, says, "I'm gonna ride shotgun," and John Wayne expresses surprise at seeing him in fact riding shotgun later. So we have references from pulp fiction and from the movies (but not from the Old West itself) using the term "riding shotgun" to refer to the stagecoach guard.
Stagecoach revived interest in westerns as a movie genre; in the 1950s they became a staple of television, too. Not surprisingly, catchphrases from westerns soon found their way into everyday speech.
So when does "riding shotgun" get transferred from stagecoach to automobile? The Dictionary of Americanisms (1951) doesn't mention "riding shotgun." We're not sure whether absence of a phrase is evidence, but it's certainly indicative. The first usage in print relating to automobiles, is - ready? - 1954. Dropping "riding" and using the simple "shotgun" (as in "I call shotgun") to mean the passenger seat comes in the early 60s.
Thus, the sequence seems to be that the usage "shotgun guard" on a stagecoach in the Old West (say, the 1880s) evolved to "riding shotgun" in popular fiction about the Old West in the 1920s and 1930s, from there made its way into movies and television, was applied to automobiles in the 1950s, and finally was shortened to "shotgun" in the 1960s.
The term "shotgun" is also used colloquially to indicate an act performed under duress, as though at gunpoint. In the 1880s we read of "elections held under the shotgun system" and in 1903 we find the first reference to "shotgun wedding," which suggests a pregnant bride and a nervous groom getting hitched at the insistence of a shotgun-wielding father. Today we use shotgun wedding figuratively, but one suspects it may have been meant literally in 1903.
The earliest usage we've found in pulp fiction occurs in the March 27, 1921 issue of the Washington Post's "Magazine of Fiction," in a story entitled "The Fighting Fool" by Dane Coolidge.(See Examples)
In the classic 1939 movie Stagecoach: Curly, the sheriff, says, "I'm gonna ride shotgun," and John Wayne expresses surprise at seeing him in fact riding shotgun later. So we have references from pulp fiction and from the movies (but not from the Old West itself) using the term "riding shotgun" to refer to the stagecoach guard.
Stagecoach revived interest in westerns as a movie genre; in the 1950s they became a staple of television, too. Not surprisingly, catchphrases from westerns soon found their way into everyday speech.
So when does "riding shotgun" get transferred from stagecoach to automobile? The Dictionary of Americanisms (1951) doesn't mention "riding shotgun." We're not sure whether absence of a phrase is evidence, but it's certainly indicative. The first usage in print relating to automobiles, is - ready? - 1954. Dropping "riding" and using the simple "shotgun" (as in "I call shotgun") to mean the passenger seat comes in the early 60s.
Thus, the sequence seems to be that the usage "shotgun guard" on a stagecoach in the Old West (say, the 1880s) evolved to "riding shotgun" in popular fiction about the Old West in the 1920s and 1930s, from there made its way into movies and television, was applied to automobiles in the 1950s, and finally was shortened to "shotgun" in the 1960s.
The term "shotgun" is also used colloquially to indicate an act performed under duress, as though at gunpoint. In the 1880s we read of "elections held under the shotgun system" and in 1903 we find the first reference to "shotgun wedding," which suggests a pregnant bride and a nervous groom getting hitched at the insistence of a shotgun-wielding father. Today we use shotgun wedding figuratively, but one suspects it may have been meant literally in 1903.
"Lum Martin!" shouted McMonagle, owner of the Cow Ranch saloon, waving his finger in front of Benson's face, "that's the man - Lum Martin! He's ridin' shotgun for Wells Fargo - or was until last week - and he's over in my saloon right now, playin' solitaire!"
Call shotgun in this case was seating in the couchguard seat with a shotgun.
Call shotgun in this case was seating in the couchguard seat with a shotgun.
by DN.·. December 9, 2008
Get the Call shotgunmug. 1) Shotgun sunday meaning a sunday so boring you would want to blow your brains out to end the bordom
2) A very boring sunday
3) Usually used when you have no plans and just sit at home doing nothig.
2) A very boring sunday
3) Usually used when you have no plans and just sit at home doing nothig.
person 1: Hey, what did you do on sunday
person 2: Nothing, it was just a shotgun sunday
person 1: sorry to hear that
person 2: Nothing, it was just a shotgun sunday
person 1: sorry to hear that
by drifto319 June 28, 2009
Get the Shotgun Sundaymug. A marriage that is forced upon a couple usually by the parents of the bride due to either an unplanned pregnancy or pre-marital relations.
by superlazy October 20, 2008
Get the shotgun weddingmug. A shotgun so accurate that it can be used at mid to long range distances, where you would typically use a sniper rifle.
In videogames typically occurs when the shotgun is just made too accurate or may be specifically implemented as a joke. Often comes with a high magnification scope (or the wielder may choose to attach one).
In videogames typically occurs when the shotgun is just made too accurate or may be specifically implemented as a joke. Often comes with a high magnification scope (or the wielder may choose to attach one).
The devs made that new gun an absolute sniper shotgun. It can still hit all pellets at 50 meters, I better attach an x4 scope on it!
by Darth Dan December 12, 2018
Get the Sniper shotgunmug. 1. the Chinese doppleganger of Dick Lugar
2. one of the coolest nicknames ever- representing all the fun of phallus with the power of firearms
3. a guy who sprays his manly juices all over when he cums, instead of in a clean stream
2. one of the coolest nicknames ever- representing all the fun of phallus with the power of firearms
3. a guy who sprays his manly juices all over when he cums, instead of in a clean stream
1. wow that chinese guy looks a lot like that dick lugar guy. guess his name is wang shotgun
2. Bro 1: I want an awesome nickname, something that says "I have a dick so big it can kill someone"
Bro 2: How about Wang Shotgun
Bros 1&2: EXTREME!!
3. chick 1: How was that guy you hooked up with last night?
chick 2: EW! He was a total Wang Shotgun I had to wash my hair twice!
Bros 1&2: EXTREME!!
2. Bro 1: I want an awesome nickname, something that says "I have a dick so big it can kill someone"
Bro 2: How about Wang Shotgun
Bros 1&2: EXTREME!!
3. chick 1: How was that guy you hooked up with last night?
chick 2: EW! He was a total Wang Shotgun I had to wash my hair twice!
Bros 1&2: EXTREME!!
by boosh chugger May 14, 2009
Get the Wang Shotgunmug. Negan is such an angel with a shotgun. He's trying to survive and build a society, but the amount of people he has killed in the process is insane.
by Vision88 November 3, 2021
Get the Angel with a shotgunmug. by Tom Ivens May 5, 2003
Get the pumping the shotgunmug.