🇺🇸 English Expressions: Riding Shotgun 🚗

🔥

Hey everyone! 👋

Today’s expression is “riding shotgun.”

I learned this expression from John and Adam’s Ruining Seinfeld podcast while preparing for my LME S’N’L class. They were discussing the scene from The Lip Reader (S06 E06), where Elaine says she would rather take a STAGECOACH than a CAR SERVICE to get to the meeting

👉 It means sitting in the front passenger seat of a car, right next to the driver.

People often say “I call shotgun!” to claim that seat before anyone else.

Origin:

The phrase comes from the American Old West. When STAGECOACHES carried money or valuable cargo, a guard would sit next to the driver holding a shotgun to protect against bandits. Over time, “riding shotgun” came to simply mean sitting in the front passenger seat. 🤠

Examples:

• I’m tired of sitting in the back — I’m riding shotgun today. 🚗

• “Shotgun!” — she called it before anyone else got in the car. 😄

• He rode shotgun while we drove across town. 🛣️

Figurative daily-life examples:

• I called shotgun before the road trip started. 🧳

• My friend was riding shotgun while I navigated through traffic. 🚦

• Whoever gets to the car first gets to ride shotgun. 🏁

Now it’s your turn! 💬

Drop your own sentence using “riding shotgun” below 👇

WE LEARN FROM EACH OTHER! 🤝

3:55