Learn how to use the phrase "to ride shotgun” or “to call shotgun”.
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Episode Script:

“Let’s get in the car. I call shotgun!”

Welcome to “ESL with Josh” - a podcast that will help you to speak more like a native English speaker. In this episode, we will consider the phrase “to ride (or call) shotgun” - what does it mean and how do we use it?

“To ride or call shotgun” is an idiom, which means that this phrase has a meaning unrelated to the words found in it.
”To call shotgun” does NOT mean to speak to a gun.
”To ride or call shotgun” does NOT have anything to do with a gun.

“To ride shotgun” DOES mean to sit in the front passenger seat of a vehicle, next to the driver.
“To call shotgun” means to claim the right to sit in the front passenger seat.

The phrase originates in the early 1900s in the American “wild west”. People often traveled by stagecoaches, pulled by horses. To protect themselves and their cargo, often someone sat right next to the driver with access to a shotgun in case their stagecoach was attacked. This role became known as “riding shotgun”. The phrase first shows up in literature in 1905. Alfred Henry Lewis, in his “The Sunset Trail”, describes Wyatt Earp as “riding shotgun” when a stagecoach was carrying valuable treasures.

Today the phrase “riding shotgun” refers simply to the act of sitting in the front passenger seat of a vehicle. Similarly, “to call shotgun” refers to claiming the right to sit in the front passenger seat. In many situations, this phrase is used in a game to determine who gets to sit in the front seat. Once the vehicle is in view, whoever first calls out “shotgun” gets the right to sit in the front seat.

Here are a few examples:

• Let’s head out. I call shotgun!
• Yesterday Paul rode shotgun so I had to sit in the back all by myself.
• Mom, don’t let Owen sit up front. I called shotgun!
• I often feel sick when I sit in the back, so is it OK if I ride shotgun?

Now it is time to take a quiz.
Which of the following sentences use the idiom correctly?

1. Can I ride shotgun? I love driving!
2. Yesterday Paul shot a gun before getting into the car.
3. Mom, don’t let Owen sit in the front. I called rifle!
4. I am tired of sitting in the back. Can I ride shotgun?

What do you think?
The only correct sentence is number 4.

Now it’s time for the Joke of the Day
What has four wheels and flies? 
A garbage truck

Thanks for listening!

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