Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person; a fellow.
  • noun A rascal; a scamp.
  • interjection Used to express annoyance, disappointment, or surprise.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun euphemistic son of a bitch

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

The U.S. Navy publication Nomenclature of Ships (John Snelling, 1981) describes the origin of this phrase as follows:

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Examples

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Comments

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  • Derived from the days when women were allowed to live in naval ships. The ‘son-of-a-gun’ was one born in a ship, often in the greater space near the midship gun, behind a canvas screen. If paternity was uncertain, the child was entered in the ship’s log as a “Son-of-a-gun.�?

    June 22, 2008

  • Never daughter of a gun?

    June 22, 2008