rode shotgun
Sat up front
Rode shotgun is the past tense of ride shotgun, meaning to sit in the front passenger seat of a vehicle.
The expression comes from the Old West practice of having an armed guard sit beside a stagecoach driver for protection.
Now it's everyday language for claiming that seat: I called shotgun, so I rode shotgun the whole trip.
- co-pilotAviator's assistant in command
- front seatForward vehicle seating
- tag alongAccompany without leading
- passengerTraveler, not operator
- backseat driverPassenger offering unsolicited advice
stagecoach · stagecoach driver · carpool · Old West · wild west · buddy system · safeguard · road trip · Wells Fargo · dibs · slang · wagon train · colloquialism · defense · navigator · lookout · frontier · escort