Talk:shotgun

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Factual accuracy of interjection contested--shotgun only applies to vehicles' passenger seats. Also, shotgun can be called only in line-of-sight of a vehicle, not line-of-thought.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the rules of "shotgun!" vary from place to place, period to period, group to group... — Hippietrail 05:27, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)
I removed the interjection section completely. That words are commonly used on their own does not automatically make them interjections. It's like saying that "ball" or "foul" are interjections because of the way that they're used in certain sports.
Karmosin 19:03, 8 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've got shotgun[edit]

Hi, editors! I would like to ask can you explain what does it mean "I've got shotgun"? It says here it is related to the front passenger seat, but how exactly: "I am sitting on the front seat" or "I am old enough to sit here" or something else? Because it is often in US films, but never translated and there seems to be a sense of humor other people don't understand. Thanks! --Petko

Perhaps you mean "to ride shotgun" - to sit on a stagecoach, beside the "driver" looking out for Indians etc and driving them off with your shotgun. SemperBlotto 08:14, 29 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for answering :-). No, I think of the film w:Taxi (2004 film), there is a policeman who cannot get his car out of the parking and the girl tells him to get on the other seat. Than he says "I-I've got shotgun" and moves. Then the girl drives the car. But I didn't understand, as he actually has a gun, but in slang this means something else. --Petko 09:30, 29 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, it means he's sitting in (‘got’) the passenger seat. As SB explains above, it goes back to the days of stagecoaches, when the person sitting next to the driver would carry a shotgun to protect the coach. Widsith 16:35, 29 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, this is very interesting! I now understand. You may add this in the article. Thank you very much for your explication! (If someday you need help with Bulgarian language, please tell me :-).) --Petko 17:15, 29 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, In Slang: 'I've got shotgun' also means the same as 'I've got dibs' Which means that you have the first right to something. Shotgun excels dibs so (for example) if Peter says: 'I've got dibs on the nachos', then Edward can say: 'Haha, I've got shotgun.' and then Edward can have the nachos first. (I can't explain it any better)

For the benefit of any non-native english speakers this is a more complete explanation. The front passenger seat of a car is considered desireable. This seat is sometimes called "the shotgun seat". This expression comes down from the days of horse drawn wagons and coaches where on journeys through unsafe areas someone would sit next to the driver holding a weapon (sometimes literally a shotgun). When someone "calls shotgun" they are claiming the front passenger seat. There are rules about when and how you can "call shotgun". The most common rule is that you must be within sight of the car. "Calling shotgun" is an informal practice whereby friends can decide who will sit where without an argument.

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Adjective should really be an attributive noun. DAVilla 03:16, 20 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed. If you are going to allow something as an adjective just because you can prepend it to one of its components or something that it consumes or uses, then most concrete nouns and a lot of abstract ones would qualify. The only real adjectival sense I can think of: "shotgun wedding" is handled seperately.House 22:30, 20 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
For the particular pre-existing sense though, I think I would agree. . We have shotgun wedding as a standard collocation, but the molecular biology meaning of "shotgun" techniques has nothing to do with an actual shotgun. Rather, it refers to techniques done broadly and seemingly without focus, in the hopes of stumbling across a useful result. --EncycloPetey 23:55, 20 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Courts regularly use the phrase shotgun pleading to refer to a disorderly complaint or answer that throws in a bunch of facts and hopes to describe a cause of action thereby. Cheers! bd2412 T 04:53, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Isn't there a missing adjectival sense, which would arguably include the biological sense and the above-suggested legal sense? to wit: "shotgun" as synonym for scattershot. "Shotgun shell" seems like SoP, "shotgun marriage" is an idiom, but "shotgun pleading" and taking a "shotgun approach" (e.g., to research) are examples of the kind of usage that should be included. The sense in which the word "shotgun" provides meaning in these phrases is not obvious to individual who hasn't seen one used, at least in a movie (Are there such?). DCDuring 18:19, 29 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
What about "shotgun", as in "shotgun seat" and the adverbial usage "to ride shotgun" (Or are they both idioms?) I think that there are enough figurative senses in which the word "shotgun" modifies a noun, at least in US English, that they could bear explanation. To wit, having to do with someone bearing a shotgun (shotgun seat, ride shotgun), having to do with coercion (shotgun wedding, divorce, sale), the scattering of effort (shotgun pleading, shotgun approach). The RfV'd sense would be useful as a catch-all first sense for any senses that users may invent. DCDuring 19:53, 4 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Keep as catch-all for residual diverse senses (in US English). I'd agree with move to RfV for cites. DCDuring 20:16, 4 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have RfD'd the biology sense, because one of the two adjectival senses I added would include it. If it would be better to hold off on the second RfD-sense, until the first clears, please let me know. DCDuring 20:16, 4 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]


RFD discussion: September–October 2018[edit]

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The "adjective" is a noun modifier, nothing more than that. DonnanZ (talk) 09:24, 24 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

How would I understand "shotgun marketing" then? 83.216.92.170 09:33, 24 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]
If it is a valid term create an entry for it, like there is for shotgun wedding. DonnanZ (talk) 09:40, 24 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]
So we should make shotgun nuptials too then huh? 83.216.92.170 09:44, 24 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Wording in the definition or a usage note in the noun section explaining the connotations it has when used as a modifier might be a good idea. There's no need to falsely claim that it's an adjective. Chuck Entz (talk) 13:09, 24 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]
I have had a go at adding extra definitions to the noun, but I feel that I haven't covered all senses, feel free to modify it. DonnanZ (talk) 11:33, 25 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Delete per previous discussions on similar cases. Per utramque cavernam 15:33, 17 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]