shotgun wedding

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shotgun wedding (idiom / metaphor)
/ˈʃɒt.ɡʌn ˈwɛd.ɪŋ/

A “shotgun wedding” is an American idiom for a rushed marriage, often due to an unplanned pregnancy, with the idea that the bride’s family pressures the groom, sometimes with the threat of a shotgun.

Variants

1. shotgun marriage
2. gunpoint wedding
3. forced marriage

Meanings

1. A marriage arranged hurriedly due to social pressure, usually because of an unplanned pregnancy.
2. Any partnership, alliance, or deal formed under pressure or compulsion.
3. A situation where parties are rushed or forced into a commitment.
4. (Literal/archaic) A wedding imposed by the bride’s family, imagined as being enforced “at gunpoint.”

Synonyms: forced marriage; rushed wedding; compelled union; hasty marriage; coerced partnership.

Example Sentences

1. The couple had a shotgun wedding after the pregnancy news spread.
2. The business merger turned out to be a shotgun wedding, forced by the board.
3. Their coalition was like a shotgun wedding, reluctant but necessary.
4. Old stories describe a shotgun wedding where the bride’s father ensured the groom’s compliance. (literal)

Origin and History

Literal Roots on the American Frontier

In the 19th century, reports in American newspapers described men being coerced into marrying women under threat of firearms. A Cincinnati account from 1872 and another in 1883 describe grooms marched to the altar under threat of shooting. While such events were rare and anecdotal, they formed the cultural backdrop that made the phrase vivid and believable. The imagery of the bride’s father with a shotgun symbolized family honor, social morality, and community pressure to legitimize children born out of wedlock.

Earliest Printed Records of the Term

• 1878 (Atchison, Kansas): The earliest located print of the phrase appears as “A shot gun wedding is probable.” in The Globe (September 25, 1878).
• 1879 (Atchison, Kansas): Another early appearance describes a “double-barrel shot gun marriage” in the same newspaper.
• 1897 (Puck magazine): The phrase had become widely understood, appearing in a cartoon captioned “Another shotgun wedding, with neither party willing,” used satirically to depict U.S. annexation of Hawaii.

These attestations show that the idiom was already established in colloquial use before the 20th century.

Lexicographic Records

The Oxford English Dictionary lists its first citation of shotgun wedding in 1927 (from Sinclair Lewis) and of shotgun marriage in 1929. These dates reflect the idiom’s consolidation in mainstream print, though earlier American newspaper evidence clearly predates them by several decades.

Figurative and Extended Uses

By the early 20th century, the term had extended metaphorically to describe political coalitions, business mergers, or alliances formed under duress. Its usage in the 1897 Puck cartoon shows that the figurative leap from literal marriage to reluctant partnerships occurred before the 20th century, though it became especially common in U.S. journalism of the 1920s–1930s.

Cultural Parallels

Similar practices and expressions exist in other cultures:

• Knobstick wedding (Britain, 18th century): ceremonies where church wardens, carrying staves, enforced marriage to avoid illegitimacy.
• Moetje (Dutch): literally “must,” referring to marriages compelled by pregnancy.

While these parallels exist, the distinctly American use of the shotgun reflects the unique influence of U.S. gun culture and folklore on the idiom’s imagery.

Modern Shifts

The literal practice of coerced marriage has declined with changing attitudes toward premarital sex and single parenthood. Nevertheless, the idiom persists widely in English, now most often used metaphorically for any reluctant alliance or forced arrangement.

Country of Origin

United States. Earliest attestations, cultural context, and popular media usage confirm the phrase’s American roots.

Origin Summary

• Earliest printed record of the term: The Globe (Atchison, Kansas), September 25, 1878 — “A shot gun wedding is probable.”
• Earliest figurative/political use: Puck magazine cartoon, December 1, 1897 — “Another shotgun wedding, with neither party willing.”
• Lexicographic firsts: OED cites 1927 (shotgun wedding), 1929 (shotgun marriage).

Funny, Marriage

Last update: August 21, 2025 1:47 PM