What does 'shotgun' mean?

Answer 1

Shotgun can have multiple meanings:

1 It is a type of firearm with a long barrel that fires shotgun shells. Those are primarily used for hunting.

2. Riding shotgun means to sit next to the driver of a car. For example a group of friends are going somewhere, and one yells 'I call shotgun' meaning, that they are sitting in the front with the driver, as the back is seen as the worst seats because they are smaller and less room.

The term riding shotgun likely came from stagecoaches. One person handled the reins, the other handled the shotgun, apparently because stagecoach robberies were common. In today's terminology, it means window seat, next to the driver, and no firearms are involved.

3. There is also a 'shotgun marriage' which is arranged quickly and suddenly because the female is pregnant. It is possible that in the old days, the father of a young pregnant woman would threaten the baby's father with a shotgun, saying that if he didn't marry her, that the father would kill him.

4. It is also a way of using inhalable substances, where one person inhales the smoke and then blows it into another person's mouth.

Answer 2

A shotgun is a weapon that fires a number of small pellets at once. This creates a"cloud" of pellets that can hit a target in an area ranging from a few cm. to a meter in the target area. This is useful for small quick moving targets like birds.

"Shotgun" has become an adjective, e.g. shotgun approach, which describes any effort that is not focussed, but hopes to achieve results as much by chance as skill.

"Shotgun" is sometimes used as verb to describe the rapid consumption of liquor - tossing it back into the mouth like blast from a shotgun. It imay also describe a method of oratory or response to questions where the answer is blurted out with great force hoping that vehemence would be an acceptable substitute for content. To "ride shotgun" means to sit in the front next to the driver. To "call shotgun" stakes a claim to the front passenger seat. It derives from stage coach days when stage coaches had armed security that sat next to the driver. A "shotgun marriage" is one where the rustic father enforces the grooms attendance to marry a pregnant daughter with a shotgun (a commonly available country weapon) - by extension, any forced arrangement.