son of a gun

Etymology

Euphemistic variant of son of a bitch. There are folk etymologies suggesting nautical origins, such as a reference to the disputed parentage of a child born aboard a ship (between the guns), or a child fathered by a soldier (also referred to as a "gun"). However, these etymologies are not supported by evidence.

Noun

son of a gun (plural sons of guns)

1. (euphemistic) son of a bitch

   That son of a gun stole my wallet!

   • 1690, anonymous author, Teagueland Jeſts, or Bogg-Witticisms, part 2, page 138:

     A plaugue tauke dee, dou damn’d Shon of a Gun, de Deevil carry dee away alive for me; […]

   • 1726, The British Apollo‎, 3rd edition, volume 2, [London]: Theodore Sanders, page 379:

     You Apollo's son, You're a son of a gun

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 61, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     Why, I say, old feller, what a happy feller I once thought you, and what a miserable son of a gun you really are!

   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     "Why, Job, you old son of a gun, where the deuce have we got to now - eh?"

   • 2002, “The Seed (2.0)”, in Phrenology, performed by The Roots:

     I don't break, I can hold the chrome / And it's weighing a ton and I'm a son of a gun

2. Used encouragingly or to compliment.

   You son of a gun, you did it!

Interjection

son of a gun

1. (euphemistic) Used to express anger, contempt, disgust, astonishment, disappointment, etc.

   Son of a gun! I just got stung by a wasp!

Further reading

• son of a gun on Wikipedia.Wikipedia