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Call shotgun Mug

stagecoach guards rode shotgun - they just didn't call it that in the 1880s, as far as anyone has yet discovered. The term "riding shotgun" to refer to the guard sitting next to the driver doesn't emerge from the Old West but rather from movies and TV shows about the Old West. To date no one has found a cite for "riding shotgun" during the time stagecoaches were actually used. The earliest usage we've found in pulp fiction occurs in the March 27, 1921 issue of the Washington Post's "Magazine of Fiction," in a story entitled "The Fighting Fool" by Dane Coolidge.(See Examples) In the classic 1939 movie Stagecoach: Curly, the sheriff, says, "I'm gonna ride shotgun," and John Wayne expresses surprise at seeing him in fact riding shotgun later. So we have references from pulp fiction and from the movies (but not from the Old West itself) using the term "riding shotgun" to refer to the stagecoach guard. Stagecoach revived interest in westerns as a movie genre; in the 1950s they became a staple of television, too. Not surprisingly, catchphrases from westerns soon found their way into everyday speech. So when does "riding shotgun" get transferred from stagecoach to automobile? The Dictionary of Americanisms (1951) doesn't mention "riding shotgun." We're not sure whether absence of a phrase is evidence, but it's certainly indicative. The first usage in print relating to automobiles, is - ready? - 1954. Dropping "riding" and using the simple "shotgun" (as in "I call shotgun") to mean the passenger seat comes in the early 60s. Thus, the sequence seems to be that the usage "shotgun guard" on a stagecoach in the Old West (say, the 1880s) evolved to "riding shotgun" in popular fiction about the Old West in the 1920s and 1930s, from there made its way into movies and television, was applied to automobiles in the 1950s, and finally was shortened to "shotgun" in the 1960s. The term "shotgun" is also used colloquially to indicate an act performed under duress, as though at gunpoint. In the 1880s we read of "elections held under the shotgun system" and in 1903 we find the first reference to "shotgun wedding," which suggests a pregnant bride and a nervous groom getting hitched at the insistence of a shotgun-wielding father. Today we use shotgun wedding figuratively, but one suspects it may have been meant literally in 1903.

Tee Hoodie

The Urban Dictionary Mug

Ceramic mug (11 oz)
Printed on-demand just for you
Dishwasher safe
Microwave safe
Word on front, definition on back
Comfortable handle
Every order personally reviewed

Customer Reviews

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This mug saved my life from spiraling down a deep dark path.

Jeffery E. Apr 29

Great present for my wife, she uses it all the time, and it's her to a T.

Daniel S. Apr 29
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I love it. High quality. Just as I had hoped.

David M. Apr 29
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This mug looks great! I love it!

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I have a crippling addiction to these mugs, i have 459

Rowan P. Apr 28

This mug is wonderful it’s so funny and I gave it to the kid that made the Definition and he started dying laughing

Luke K. Apr 28

War. War Never Changes. War, war never changes. In the year 1945, my great-great grandfather, serving in the army, wondered when he get to go home to his wife and the son he never see. He got his wish, when the U.S. ended WWII by dropping an atomic cloud on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The world awaited Armageddon, instead, something miraculous happened. We began to use atomic energy as a nearly limitless source of power. People enjoyed luxury once thought in the realm of science fiction. Domestic robots, fusion powered cars, portable computers. Then, in the 21st century, people awoke from the American dream. Years of consumption led to the shortages of every major resource. The entire world unraveled. Peace became a distant memory. It is now the year 2077, and we stand on the brink of total war, and I am afraid, for myself, for my wife, for my infant son, because if my time in the army taught me one thing; is that war, war never changes.

ha h. Apr 28

Excellent satire - didn't see comments to that end, so find it hard to fathom if most readers, in turn, didn't laugh out loud, and say so. But apparently not.

Michael T. Apr 28

I am gonna buy it and give it to my nine year old brother

Deni B. Apr 27

Super Funny Mug 😂

Emmanuel D. Apr 27

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annette Apr 26
Review by joe M.

awesome product!

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Quantavious B. Apr 24

The mug is awesome, the yellow color is great but green is also good, the scream mug is the best mug in my entyre live!!! I can't imagine my life without this mug, i cant stop buing it.... I have like 30 mugs every color in this site and also i'm ordered a new one, please help me.

normal g. Apr 24

It is amazing I was having a bad day and I read this. My name is Evan and this made me happy

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Quandale D. Apr 23

looks perfect!!! we loved it

Thalia A. Apr 22
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I ordered 4 of your mugs -- and have received 3; hopefully, the 4th is on its way! So far, I've received "fame," "620," and "$" ... only needing "hulo." ...It might be a matter of me being patient, that the 4th mug is on its way. However, the 3 received SO far are all EXCEPTIONAL, in every way!!! Mark Moilanen

Mark M. Apr 22
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I love this mug with a burning passion in my heart, I have purchased 7 of these mugs and intend to continue. This mug has changed my life for the better

Quandale D. Apr 21
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