# arms = guns? (slang) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2002, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600 "2002-07-18T13:05:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/1 "2002-07-18T13:05:36Z")
As in, “He’s got a big pair of guns.” What’s that all about? What’s the origin of that expression? Is it a play on the use of arms to mean weapons? And does it refer to the biceps, or the whole arms, or what? [gratuitous complaint about the stupidity of the usage omitted] ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/2 "2002-07-18T13:52:47Z")
I don’t know about that, but once I saw a woman with a nice pair of thirty-eights! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/3 "2002-07-18T13:59:46Z")
This is my rifle; This is my gun. One is for fighting; One is for fun. “He’s got a big pair of guns.” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/4 "2002-07-18T22:42:35Z")
Nobody’s ever heard this? I first encountered it on a TV show, some guy bragging about the size of his arms. I heard it again today on the radio, some DJ talking about Vin Diesel and his arms, “Yeah, he’s got a big pair of guns.” He was talking to some chick who was drooling over guys’ arms. ---
**Author:** ![Visual\_Purple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5daacb/32.png) [@Visual\_Purple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Visual_Purple)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/5 "2002-07-19T02:04:59Z")
Any possibility he was talking about gams = legs? ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/6 "2002-07-19T02:57:57Z")
Well, guns have been known as firearms for a long time, so it doesn’t take much imagination to switch the terms and call your arms guns. I’ve heard it mainly in a baseball context, where a player is said to have a gun (or a cannon) for an arm, reflecting the fact that he can throw a ball fast and straight like a bullet out of a gun. ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/7 "2002-07-19T06:23:10Z")
Having arms described as “guns” was not unknown in northeastern Wisconsin, at least in the late 80’s to early 90’s. It wasn’t used all that frequently, however. I can recall several incidents of this, usually involving cheerleaders and games that required arm strength, like swimming or volleyball. I can remember at least once incident where someone from the suburbs of Chicago (Hinsdale, IIRC) being very confused at the term. I never thought that it might not be a particularly widespread usage, as confusing someone from the suburbs of Chicago is not a particularly difficult feat. It would be similar to the “gams = legs” slang, except that it’s more current. Usually when someone used “gams”, it was with an ironic, retro linguistic inflection, whereas guns was a more current term. However, with the current rate of social recycling, it’s possible that “guns” currently seems as outdated as “gams” did then. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/8 "2002-07-19T11:52:39Z")
A Body Builder’s slang [website](http://www.bodynet.biz/English%20Version/Bodybuilding%20Slang/g.htm) says it means “biceps”. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/9 "2002-07-20T23:44:29Z")
Wow, so nobody has a clue? At least I’m not the only one totally out of it. Thanks for the link, Geobabe. That at least clarifies that they mean the biceps. The why is still a mystery, unless my WAG is lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/10 "2002-07-25T05:57:55Z")
Still no answer as to **why**? ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/11 "2002-07-25T08:13:11Z")
I’m really surprised that some people don’t seem to be familiar with “guns” being slang for big arms. I don’t have an answer for the OP, but a common line when I was in high school went like this: Guy: “Do you have tickets to the show?” Gal: “What show?” Guy (flexing): “The gun show!” ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arms-guns-slang/119600/12 "2002-07-26T02:12:23Z")
The baseball origin is probably correct, according to Lighter. As early as 1929 the NYT was writing "A player’s arm is his _gun_ or his _wing_. _A good gun_ means that the possessor has a stong arm. Then a quote from something in 1973 "_Guns_–the biceps and triceps part of the arm. But, outside of baseball, I can’t remember hearing it in the 1950’s-60’s in Virginia. Not referring to biceps, etc.