What Does Shotgun Wedding Mean?

A shotgun wedding is a wedding arranged in response to pregnancy resulting from premarital sex, often due to an unplanned pregnancy. The term originated in the late 19th century and is primarily used in the U.S. as a colloquialism. It refers to a marriage that takes place quickly and often involuntarily, typically due to an unplanned pregnancy.

The term has negative connotations but is crucial to understanding the context of a shotgun wedding. In slang, a shotgun wedding refers to a marriage that is undertaken hastily or forced due to an unexpected pregnancy of one or both parties involved. Matrimonies of such caliber were recorded as early as 1872, published in an article in The Cincinnati Enquirer under the title “Pistol Persuasion”.

A shotgun wedding is often used in a sentence to avoid social stigma, but it can also be used to describe a merger between two companies that takes place in a hurry because one or both companies are having difficulties. The judgment stems from an unmarried woman having a child, meaning no one would ever want to marry her if the father of the baby didn’t do that.

In summary, a shotgun wedding is a term used to describe a wedding that takes place quickly and often involuntarily due to an unplanned pregnancy. It is often associated with negative connotations but is crucial to understanding the context of a shotgun wedding.

What is the actual shotgun wedding?

It’s usually because the couple had a baby without being married. A shotgun wedding is when you get pregnant and your girlfriend’s dad makes you marry her. The shotgun is a common joke from the past. It actually happened! In 1883, The Telegraph and Messenger from Macon, Georgia reported that George Maynor suspected Dr. Roberts of having sex with his daughter, Nottie. Mr. Maynor got a marriage license, took his brother and two relatives, and abducted Dr. Roberts. He forced him to marry Nottie at gunpoint. After the marriage, Dr. Roberts left. I don’t know why. Shotgun weddings are rare now. In the 1930s, half of unmarried pregnant women married before giving birth. That number has fallen in recent decades. But just because it’s not common anymore doesn’t mean it’s a thing of the past.

What does shotgun mean in slang?

Idioms: Call shotgun, to sit in the front passenger seat of a vehicle. When I was a kid, calling shotgun was important for the drive to school.

Of, used with, or carried out with a shotgun:

Covers a wide area in an ineffective way without concern for details. He used the shotgun approach in his political attacks.

What is the expression shotgun wedding?

A wedding because of pregnancy. Informal.

Learn More. Idioms and Phrases An agreement made because both sides had to, as in the coalition government was a shotgun wedding because neither side won a majority. This expression means a woman gets married because she is pregnant. Her father makes the man marry her. It was first used in the 1950s. There are some clues this may be a shotgun wedding. When do you plan to get married?

What are the disadvantages of a shotgun wedding?

2. A shotgun wedding can lead to a rushed decision.

Hasty decisions can be bad for couples in the long run. Take time to think about it. Is getting married the right decision?

3. Pro: A shotgun wedding can make a couple more committed to each other. When a couple faces an unplanned pregnancy, it can bring them closer. A shotgun wedding makes them more committed to each other, so they can face challenges together.

Why is it called a shotgun?

In the past, guns were measured by the number of balls of lead carved from one pound of lead to fill the barrel. These balls were called shots, and the name stuck. It’s still used.

Is shotgun wedding inappropriate?

Why is “Shotgun Wedding” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language and some violence/bloody images.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an attempted seduction with some kissing, a few kissing scenes, discussions of infidelity and sex addiction, a few scenes of people being shot at and threatened by armed people that invade an island wedding, a man being killed during a fight with blood shown, a man being thrown into the blades of a helicopter and killed, a man being thrown out of a helicopter, a man burned on the head and face, a few near falls from heights, several arguments, and nearly 20 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language. *When a couples (Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel) island destination wedding is derailed by pirates, they find themselves questioning their recent choices. Also with Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Coolidge, Sonia Braga, Cheech Marin, Steve Coulter, DArcy Carden, Callie Hernandez, Desmin Borges, Selena Tan and Alberto Isaac. Directed by Jason Moore. A few lines of dialogue are spoken in Spanish with English subtitles and a few lines in Balinese, with some translation. Running Time: 1:40 *Shotgun Wedding SEX/NUDITY 3. – A woman climbs in bed and poses seductively, asking her fiancée to have sex (we see her bare legs to the hips and bare her abdomen when she pulls the leg of her shorts up; she removes her shorts and stands near the man trying to seduce him, she poses provocatively pretending to try to reach something on a high shelf and when he helps her, they kiss and he places her on the bed where they kiss and are interrupted by his mother coming into the room. A husband and his wife sleep in bed together.►A video is shown and we see a man and a woman kissing passionately; the woman is in a relationship with another man. A man and a woman kiss after they are married. A man and a woman kiss loudly, smooching in front of people at a party and in front of the mans ex-wife. People kiss on the cheeks as a greeting in a couple of scenes.►A married man says that he slept with a woman who was not his wife and his wife says that she also had an affair; the woman goes on to say that the other woman had a sex addiction and talks about “weird sex stuff.” A woman says that she slept with a man (both guests at a wedding). A woman says that another woman asked where she could charge her vibrator and a man makes a sexual reference. People talk about a womans ex-fiancé being invited to her wedding. A woman says that another woman asked her what her love language is. A man talks about a woman breaking off their engagement.►A womans wedding gown reveals deep cleavage and bare shoulders. A woman wears a short and low-cut dress that reveals cleavage, shoulders and bare legs to the upper thighs. A mans shirt hangs open to reveal his bare chest and abdomen. A woman retrieves a cell phone from her underwear (we dont see nudity).

Is a shotgun wedding inappropriate?

Why is “Shotgun Wedding” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language and some violence/bloody images.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an attempted seduction with some kissing, a few kissing scenes, discussions of infidelity and sex addiction, a few scenes of people being shot at and threatened by armed people that invade an island wedding, a man being killed during a fight with blood shown, a man being thrown into the blades of a helicopter and killed, a man being thrown out of a helicopter, a man burned on the head and face, a few near falls from heights, several arguments, and nearly 20 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language. *When a couples (Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel) island destination wedding is derailed by pirates, they find themselves questioning their recent choices. Also with Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Coolidge, Sonia Braga, Cheech Marin, Steve Coulter, DArcy Carden, Callie Hernandez, Desmin Borges, Selena Tan and Alberto Isaac. Directed by Jason Moore. A few lines of dialogue are spoken in Spanish with English subtitles and a few lines in Balinese, with some translation. Running Time: 1:40 *Shotgun Wedding SEX/NUDITY 3. – A woman climbs in bed and poses seductively, asking her fiancée to have sex (we see her bare legs to the hips and bare her abdomen when she pulls the leg of her shorts up; she removes her shorts and stands near the man trying to seduce him, she poses provocatively pretending to try to reach something on a high shelf and when he helps her, they kiss and he places her on the bed where they kiss and are interrupted by his mother coming into the room. A husband and his wife sleep in bed together.►A video is shown and we see a man and a woman kissing passionately; the woman is in a relationship with another man. A man and a woman kiss after they are married. A man and a woman kiss loudly, smooching in front of people at a party and in front of the mans ex-wife. People kiss on the cheeks as a greeting in a couple of scenes.►A married man says that he slept with a woman who was not his wife and his wife says that she also had an affair; the woman goes on to say that the other woman had a sex addiction and talks about “weird sex stuff.” A woman says that she slept with a man (both guests at a wedding). A woman says that another woman asked where she could charge her vibrator and a man makes a sexual reference. People talk about a womans ex-fiancé being invited to her wedding. A woman says that another woman asked her what her love language is. A man talks about a woman breaking off their engagement.►A womans wedding gown reveals deep cleavage and bare shoulders. A woman wears a short and low-cut dress that reveals cleavage, shoulders and bare legs to the upper thighs. A mans shirt hangs open to reveal his bare chest and abdomen. A woman retrieves a cell phone from her underwear (we dont see nudity).

Why do they call it shotgun?

When we say “ride shotgun,” we’re talking about that important job. The term “riding shotgun” became popular in the 1950s. It appeared in many western movies. In the 1939 movie Stagecoach, Marshal Curly Wilcox fights off Apache Indians while riding shotgun.

Why is it called a gunshot wedding?

History of shotgun weddings. The history of shotgun weddings is unclear, but many believe they began in the 1700s or 1800s. One story is from 1872, when a man was forced to marry the woman he got pregnant. The woman’s father held a gun to the young man’s head. The phrase “shotgun wedding” isn’t as popular as it once was because women aren’t often pressured into getting married before having a child. Some women are better off having the child alone. But shotgun weddings still happen. Another early shotgun wedding was in 1883 when George Maynor believed Dr. Roberts got his daughter, Nottie, pregnant. Maynor and three relatives abducted Roberts and forced him to marry Nottie at gunpoint. There are even weirder stories.

Why People Have Shotgun Weddings Today. Today, shotgun weddings are different because it’s illegal to force someone to marry at gunpoint. Shotgun weddings still happen, but they have a different meaning and are often done differently.

Did shotgun wedding really happen?

Until the 1970s, most people got married before having sex. One San Francisco resident said it well in the late 1960s: If a girl gets pregnant, you marry her. There was no choice. I married her. Since 1969, shotgun marriages have become less common (see table 1 for the trend from 1965 through 1984). For whites, the shotgun marriage rate started to decline at the same time as reproductive technology changed. The decline in shotgun marriages has led to more babies being born outside of marriage. About 75% of the increase in white out-of-wedlock first-birth rates and about 60% of the Black increase between 1965 and 1990 is due to the decline in shotgun marriages. If the shotgun marriage rate had stayed the same, white out-of-wedlock births would have risen by only 25 percent. Black out-of-wedlock births would have risen by only 40 percent. Why are liberalized contraception and abortion linked to the decline in shotgun marriages? Before 1970, it was shameful to have a baby outside of marriage. Women only had sex if they were promised marriage if they got pregnant. Men were willing to make that promise because they knew that if they left one woman, they would be unlikely to find another who would not make the same demand. Even women who wanted to have children outside of marriage could ask for a promise of marriage in case of pregnancy.

Was Ryan Reynolds involved in shotgun wedding?

Lopez has been matched with three different partners for “Shotgun Wedding.” Her first costar was Ryan Reynolds, who dropped out and is now just an executive producer. He was replaced by Armie Hammer, who soon had other things on his mind. Josh Duhamel got the girl, so he’s Tom, a “groomzilla” who pays more attention to his pineapple centerpieces than to his fiancée, Darcy (Lopez). No more lazy wedding tropes, regardless of gender. Tom’s stress is understandable. He chose a remote Philippines resort for their destination wedding, where two demanding families are sharing space. From the rehearsal dinner, we can see that tensions are high. Darcys sophisticated mother, Renata (Sônia Braga), is angry at her ex-husband and his girlfriend. Darcys sister slept with the best man, and now he’s in love. Tom’s mom Carol is a disaster. Sean, Darcys perfect ex-boyfriend, has just shown up.

What is meant by shotgun marriage?

A shotgun wedding is a quick wedding because the woman is pregnant. A shotgun wedding is a merger between two companies that happens quickly because one or both companies are having problems.

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learners Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins.