"son of a gun"

[Gerald Cohen]

On Jan. 17 Douglas Wilson sent a message about "son of a gun," which
says in part:

>The Cassell slang dictionary says it's euphemistic for "son of a bitch" ...
>but derives the "gun" from "gonnof", which strikes me as unlikely.

     Actually, I believe Cassell (which I do not have before me) is on
the right track. "Gun" besides referring to a firearm, was also a
cant term for "thief," at least in the 19th century. For example, one
can read about "the guns and their molls," i.e., the thieves and
their women/wives. And this "gun" is known to derive from Yiddish
"gonnof" (thief).  Both "gun" (thief) and "gonnof" were present in
British cant.

     If someone were called a "son of a gun," the original idea was
probably: "Your father is a thief, and you're a younger version of
him."

---Gerald Cohen