When in port, and with the crew restricted to the ship for any extended period of time, wives and ladies of easy virtue often were allowed to live aboard along with the crew. Infrequently, but not unc [..]

Although frequently used as meaning a "good fellow", this is really an old naval expression casting aspersions on a man's parentage. In the days when women were allowed on board during [..]

This expression comes from the term for children conceived on the gun decks of a ship. When in port, women were often brought on board.  Since the sailors had no private quarters, they would sling ham [..]

  This term dates back to when men of certain ratings, including gunners and gunners mates, were allowed to take their wives along to sea with them. If a boy was born on the voyage, he was half-humoro [..]

(1) Born aboard a warship. Derived from the days when women were allowed to live in naval ships. The ‘son-of-a-gun’ was one born on a warship, often in the greater space near the midship gun, behind a [..]

traditionally, a male child born or conceived afloat. An archaic term from the days of sail, when crewmen were typically not let ashore for fear of desertion. Women were let aboard (the regulation sai [..]

The space between the guns was used as a semi-private place for trysts with prostitutes and wives, which sometimes led to birth of children with disputed parentage. Another claim is that the origin th [..]

When in port, and with the crew restricted to the ship for any extended period of time, wives and ladies of easy virtue often were allowed to live aboard along with the crew. Infrequently, but not unc [..]

The space between the guns was used as a semi-private place for trysts with prostitutes and wives, which sometimes led to birth of children with disputed parentage. Another claim is that the origin the term resulted from firing a ship's guns to hasten a difficult birth.

Traditionally, a male child born (or conceived) afloat. An archaic term from the days of sail, when crewmen were typically not let ashore for fear of desertion. Women were let aboard (the regulation s [..]

Seaman who was born aboard a warship. As this was once considered to be one of the essentials of the perfect seaman, it has long been a complimentary term.