Riding shotgun

For other uses, see Riding shotgun (disambiguation).
Riding shotgun
The driver is holding the whip with the shotgun messenger on his left.
Origin/etymologyA bodyguard riding alongside a stagecoach driver (derived from "shotgun messenger")
Meaning
    • Sitting next to the driver in a moving vehicle
    • Giving support or aid to someone
Coined byAlfred Henry Lewis (1905)

"Riding shotgun" was a phrase used to describe the bodyguard who rides alongside a stagecoach driver, typically armed with a break-action shotgun, called a coach gun, to ward off bandits or hostile Native Americans. In modern use, it refers to the practice of sitting alongside the driver in a moving vehicle. The coining of this phrase dates to 1905 at the latest.[1]

  1. ^ Lewis, Alfred Henry (1905). The Sunset Trail. New York: A. L. Burt Company. p. 349. Retrieved March 30, 2018 – via Internet Archive.