I play golf with a diverse group of guys from different countries. Today one of the guys said "Son of a Gun, I never expected that putt to break that way"... Which reminded me of a story about the route this saying has taken from the British empire days.
Supposedly back when sailing ships and the man of war vessels the Brits used to help rule the British empire from afar pulled into a docking berth the Prostitutes would service the guys who remained upon the ship.. The best place below decks to carry out there trade was actually upon the cannons... Since birth control was more of a miss than a hit some of the girls ended up getting pregnant.. IF the children were not aborted or thrown into a dust bin and were actually registered as a live birth then on the birth certificate you had to list the father... Since many of the girls had no idea who the father was the birth father would be listed as "Son of a Gun".
Just a story but I would not be surprised if there is much truth in this one..
Sort of. Spyder explained this one to me once, noting it was not yet proven in any origin theory, but he favors one historically plausible origin theory. The British Navy did have a rule against women on ships, but had a habit of turning a blind eye to women on board in ports and on voyages (sometimes they really did let the wives come along) A 'Gun' was a military member on board, and thus if a hooker or wife on board became pregnant, a "Son of a Gun" was born.
There's much literature and even records with the National Museum of the Royal Navy showing women were allowed on board, so it really is one of the most plausible explanations out there.
Queen of English Language Mangling, Master of the Edit button
I looked into it out of curiosity the next morning and that was the explanation that I found, too. It seems that it is true, Sky. How interesting. I love little things like this. I find it fascinating to know the stories at the origin of phrases and words.