shotgun shack, shotgun house, railroad flat, etc

[Dave Wilton]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
> Of Grant Barrett
> Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2005 3:43 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: shotgun shack, shotgun house, railroad flat, etc
>
>
> On Sep 22, 2005, at 17:22, Mullins, Bill wrote:
> > A discussion today in the letters of Jim Romanesko's media blog:
> > brings up "shotgun shack" (is it a redneck term?), "shotgun house",
> > "railroad flat", and "railroad apartment".
>
> I don't know about "redneck" but DARE, which has it to 1936, marks it
> chiefly Southern and south Midlands. It also provides the synonyms
> "gun-barrel house," "gunshot house," and "sharpshooter."

"And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself-well...how did I get here?"

--"Once In A Lifetime," Talking Heads, 1980

It turns out that David Byrne spent much of his childhood in Baltimore, so
that may account for the appearance of the term in the song. Personally, I
first heard the term in reference to a house in Baltimore.

"Same as it ever was."

--Dave Wilton
  dave at wilton.net
  http://www.wilton.net