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jim_1

Phrase of the day 2/6

jim_1 (Zone 5B)
3 years ago

Son of a gun

This phrase goes back to the time when women were allowed to sail – usually with their husbands – aboard trading vessels and even aboard warships. In a book published more than 100 years ago, call The Sailor’s Word Book, there is this explanation: “Son of a gun is an epithet conveying contempt in slight degree and was originally applied to boys born afloat. One admiral declares he was literally thus cradled, under the breast of a gun carriage.”