What does "son of a gun" mean? Is it a common phrase?

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

This is an expression used to express annoyance (and sometimes surprise) towards a thing or a man. For example, if a man cut in front of you while driving, you might call him a "son of a gun." It is a euphemism used in place of "son of a bastard," so depending on tone, the meaning can be made stronger. Ex: Son of a gun. Did you not see me waiting in line first? Ex: Jerry, you son of a gun! Congrats on the new job!

How do native speakers use this expression?

Share this post

Popular Q&As

10/04

1
What does 'rest' mean here?
While 'rest' has various definitions, In this case, "rest" is a noun, meaning 'the remaining part of something.' Ex: What do you want to do for the rest of your life? Ex: I don't know what to do for the rest of the year.

2
What does "renaissance" mean?
The word "renaissance" is used in a situation when there is new interest in something and it becomes strong and active again. Here it is talking about the renewed interest and popularity of Apple. Ex: The wine industry is definitely experiencing a renaissance. Ex: Thanks to self isolation home baking has undergone a renaissance.

3
Does "hide out" means "hide"? How does it make a difference when "out" comes after the word? CanI just use "hide" here?
Great question. Yes. It's perfectly fine to leave out the "out" and just use "hiding", however it would lack some nuance. When you "hide", you're just concealing yourself. Maybe you're avoiding an annoying relative, so you go to the bathroom and stay there until they leave. When you "hide out" it implies that someone is actively looking for you and trying to find you. Criminals will "hide out" somewhere because the police are looking for them, for example. In fact, the noun "hideout" refers to a remote or difficult to locate place where criminals will hide out from police. Ex: I have to hide out from the FBI. Ex: Criminals sometimes hide out in these abandoned houses.

4
Does "drive a stick" mean "drive a car with manual transmission"?
Yes! "Stick" and "stick shift" have the same meaning as "manual transmission". "Manual transmission" is a mechanism in a vehicle that allows you to adjust the gears for more efficient driving. Most vehicles now are "automatic transmissions" and shift the gears when driving automatically.

5
Why did he put "thing" after "arm"? Can't I just say "the arm"?
Usually, in the UK, we use thing as a placeholder for something. As this is a small section of a longer conversation it is difficult to know what "thing" is referring to. However I can infer that there is some sort of rumour or gossip about what Paul Rudd did to "the arm" and that is the "thing" that the interviewer is referring to. As the sentence is constructed you cannot simply remove "thing". If you did the sentence would need to be reconstructed. "Did you really touch the arm" would work fine.

Complete the expression with a quiz!