Everything Everywhere Daily · Sunday, August 30, 2026
The term 'son of a gun' traces back to 17th and 18th-century British naval slang. When women gave birth on ships, sometimes between the cannons on the gun deck, and the father's identity was uncertain, the child was humorously called a 'son of a gun.'
“When these women gave birth at sea, the limited space on the ship meant that the birth sometimes took place between the rows of cannons on a gun deck.”
“If the identity of a child's father was uncertain, then the child was often jokingly referred to as a son of a gun.”