Think of a hard word with its sharp edge filed off. Son of a gun began as a polite swap for a much ruder phrase, and swapping one word took out the sting while leaving the force. So what you have is a big feeling with nothing dangerous in it — and a big feeling can point anywhere. Aim it at a friend across the room and it is a hug. Aim it at the man who kept you waiting and it is a complaint. Aim it at a jar lid that will not turn and it is a joke. Let it out with no target at all and it is just the noise surprise makes. The words never change; the aim and the voice do everything.
From the word’s history
The source records son of a gun as a euphemistic variant of son of a bitch. It also notes nautical folk etymologies — a child born aboard between the guns, or fathered by a soldier — and says plainly that these are not supported by evidence.
來源記載 son of a gun 是 son of a bitch 的委婉替換版，這正好解釋了它為什麼火氣比較小。至於流傳很廣的水手說法——船上大砲之間出生的孩子，或士兵生的孩子——來源明說沒有證據支持，所以當故事聽就好，不要當來歷教。
Wiktionary entry for “son of a gun”, etymology_text: “Euphemistic variant of son of a bitch… these etymologies are not supported by evidence.” (packet source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1178873287:4411)
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