Comment

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…”

source

Sort:hotnew top

WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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.

source
- moncharleskey@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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.
  
  source
  - LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I am curious if there is a language that calls a nail gun not a gun
    
    source
    SGforce@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ 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
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
    Lyra_Lycan@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Amazon and their copycats seem to be calling them ‘nailers’, probably because it’s easier to filter out the constructive guns from destructive, prohibited ones. But Amazon is evil so it’s probably unrelated
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- Lumisal@lemmy.world ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Replacing “gun” with “press” for example.
  
  Alternatively, caulker, stapler, nailer, gluer, tattooer, and finger pointers. Fingers also usually don’t launch projectiles I think. It’s just that gun culture is so embedded in your brain you couldn’t think of an alternative.
  
  Note how these are all construction tools, and construction is also usually worked by men there. Yet more traditionally feminine tools don’t get the “gun” additive; most will say spray bottle for example rather than spray gun, even though it also has a trigger (a literal gun-like one in some cases) and shoots out a projectile.
  
  source
  - WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    I think press works for Caulk and glue. Stapler is used already for the machine that sits on a desk as opposed to the hand held construction style. Finger pointers is certainly descriptive but when people do “finger guns” the thumb usually mimics the hammer action. What else are they miming? Am I so inundated with gun culture I was unable to think of another use for the thumb?
    
    I think bottles were around before firearms but Staple, nail and Caulk guns were not.
    
    source
    Lumisal@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    They’re both staplers - one’s just manual and the other isn’t.
    
    Spray bottles did not exist before guns, no.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- Zwiebel@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Kartuschenpresse aka cartridge press
  
  source
  - WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Cool thx
    
    source
shalafi@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
First bit is true enough, but we call “shotgun” because that was the guy holding the coach gun for bandit defense. Wish I had a pic of mine, but they’re basically a short double-barreled shotgun for warding off robbers and Indians. Coach guns are quickly and easily aimed, powerful at short range, “get the fuck off of me” guns.

The Wild West wasn’t as wild as movies make it out, but you were on your fucking own. LOL, no 911. While you’re driving the coach, best have a man whose job is looking around and blasting raiders.

tl;dr: Calling shotgun means you’re taking the front passenger side in a (historically) defensive role.

source
- shawn1122@sh.itjust.works ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Yes, thats part of the why but it’s still odd culturally from the perspective of the rest of the world especially since what you’re describing occurred 100+ years ago and the terminology has likely only persusted because of the US’ gun obsession.
  
  source
  - shalafi@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    
    only persisted because
    
    That is a wild stretch of imagination. Loads of things we say, across all countries and languages, persist for centuries after losing their original meanings.
    
    source
    shawn1122@sh.itjust.works ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Sure but in this case there are numerous gun related phrases that have persisted in American culture because of this particular affinity.
    
    source
ivanafterall@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Bullseye.

source
ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

arr

Pirate detected.

source
- moncharleskey@lemmy.zip ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Hoist the flag high!
  
  source
miked@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I like the way you explained this.

source