• rockstarmode@lemmy.world
      1·
      2 months ago

      The apocryphal story is actually kind of interesting.

      Roads and right of way established during the pre-firearm era were that you’d ride on the left, with people going the opposite way on your right. This was so you could use your dominant hand (usually your right) to use a sword to defend yourself.

      Roads after firearms were available often established right of way with riding on the right, with oncoming traffic on the left. This is because when you shoulder a firearm on your right shoulder it’s easier to aim left.

      Stagecoach drivers would sit in the left seat, with the extra person sitting on the right, holding a shotgun, hence the colloquial term for the front passenger seat.

      I have no idea how true this is, but it makes for an interesting story.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 months ago

    Not many countries had to arm the person next to the coach driver to fight off natives defending their country against foreign invaders.

  • Geodad@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 months ago

    That is purely an American thing.

    Not saying my family had someone in the passenger seat with a shotgun to protect their batch of white lightning…also not saying they didn’t.

  • S_H_K@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    1·
    2 months ago

    Years ago I read “shotgun wedding” and thought it was common to see a guy having to marry a girl he fucked while her father was there at the side with a rifle.

    Capaz son asi andá a saber…

    • oatscoop@midwest.social
      1·
      2 months ago

      It means “quick marriage because the bride is pregnant” and that is 100% the origin of the phrase.

      Particularly in poorer, rural parts of the USA having a child out of wedlock was incredibly shameful, and the financial burden of a single motherhood was intolerable. So the bride’s family would ensure the man responsible married their daughter … regardless of how he felt about it. Sometimes that meant having a shotgun at the wedding to ensure he didn’t run off.

    • moncharleskey@lemmy.zip
      0·
      2 months ago

      I’ll try and explain, but let me know if you don’t follow. In the US it’s common to claim the front passenger seat by saying “I call shotgun!” or simply “Shotgun!” The commenter is playing on a now common refrain where Americans use firearms and terminology to describe basic things. As far as I can tell, it’s true. For example: caulk gun, staple gun, nail gun, glue gun, tattoo gun, finger guns, ot phrases like “I’ll think about it before I pull the trigger on it.” Or “Shoot me your email and I’ll get you those photos.”

      I don’t know how prolific this type of thing is in other countries though, so I can only assume we Americans arr outliers due to how deeply ingrained guns are in our culture. Hope this clarifies things a bit, let me know if not.

      TLDR: Americans describing so many things: “So imagine a gun, but…”

      • WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world
        0·
        2 months ago

        All the things you listed either shoot projectiles and/or have triggers. What else do you call trigger operated projectile launchers? Also Caulk guns legitimately look like old timey machine guns.

        • moncharleskey@lemmy.zip
          0·
          2 months ago

          This is my perspective as an American looking in. In other languages there may be terminology used for these items that do not reference firearms.

            • SGforce@lemmy.ca
              1·
              2 months ago

              Cloueuse pneumatique

              Or pneumatic nailer

              I don’t think any of those things are referred to as a gun in French. Just essentially “stapler”, “nailer”, “gluer”, ect