# Question for non-Americans. Car question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 4, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621 "2014-05-04T05:22:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/1 "2014-05-04T05:22:19Z")
In trhe front of a car you have 2 seats. The driver and the passenger. In the US we often call the passenger seat “shotgun”. What do you call it? BTW, why do we call it “shotgun”? It was a term used in the 1800’s for the stagecoaches where you had one man driving the horses and another man sitting next to him holding a shotgun. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/2 "2014-05-04T05:27:29Z")
Passenger seat. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/3 "2014-05-04T07:45:41Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Passenger seat. According to my Aussie wife, ditto. “I call shotgun” would be understood, due to the influence of American TV, but would be used rarely. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/4 "2014-05-04T07:46:52Z")
Passenger seat. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/5 "2014-05-04T07:50:50Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > the 1800’s for the stagecoaches where you had one man driving the horses and another man sitting next to him holding a shotgun. Get ready for a shock: The seat which is occupied by the passenger is called :… the passenger seat. You see, there are some countries where not everything is about guns. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/6 "2014-05-04T08:09:44Z")
“The Front Seat”, which is next to “the Driver’s Seat”. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/7 "2014-05-04T08:33:07Z")
Passenger seat. Actually, on my previous car, I took it out for a few years. We needed to buy renovation material at times and a Toyota Echo isn’t exactly built for cargo, so I loosened the four bolts and out it came. It made it a hell of a lot easier to haul two-by-fours. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/8 "2014-05-04T08:46:28Z")
“I call shotgun!” ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/9 "2014-05-04T08:50:38Z")
The passenger seat or the front seat. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/10 "2014-05-04T08:57:15Z")
Front seat. It is understood to be next to driver’s seat. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/11 "2014-05-04T09:18:49Z")
In France, besides “the front seat” it is sometimes referred to as “la place du mort”, or dead man’s seat. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/12 "2014-05-04T10:13:04Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Get ready for a shock: > The seat which is occupied by the passenger is called :… the passenger seat. > You see, there are some countries where not everything is about guns. 🙂 If you looked at the owners manual or talked to a dealer the word would be “passenger seat” also. Saying “I call shotgun” is just slang. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/13 "2014-05-04T10:14:14Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > In France, besides “the front seat” it is sometimes referred to as “la place du mort”, or dead man’s seat. That’s funny. Where does it come from? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/14 "2014-05-04T10:29:38Z")
Passenger seat or front passenger seat. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/15 "2014-05-04T10:33:59Z")
Unfortunately, the term ‘shotgun’ seems to have been misunderstood in the UK (at least within my immediate circle) - people appear to have misinterpreted the parts of the phrase ‘I call shotgun’ (i.e. “I wish to sit in the front, and I am first to ask”) to the effect that ‘Shotgun’ means the ‘I call’ part. So, for example, when a box of cakes is offered, someone might say “shotgun the one with sprinkles!” (which makes no sense). ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/16 "2014-05-04T10:36:41Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > In trhe front of a car you have 2 seats. The cars I grew up riding in did not. In fact, neither did the stage coaches. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/17 "2014-05-04T11:09:04Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The cars I grew up riding in did not. In fact, neither did the stage coaches. You grew up riding in stage coaches? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Butterfly\_s\_Ghost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_butterfly_s_ghost/32/3462_2.png) [@The\_Butterfly\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Butterfly_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/18 "2014-05-04T11:24:20Z")
In German we call it “Beifahrersitz” - next-to-driver-seat. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/19 "2014-05-04T11:37:16Z")
“Passenger seat”, “Front seat” or “Front passenger seat”. The term “Riding shotgun” is also understood because - and this may be a shock to Americans - Australia had stagecoaches with armed guards too back in the mid-late 19th century. As someone mentioned before, the etymolygy of calling “Shotgun!” to bags the front passenger seat (in reference to the old practice of literally sititng next to the driver of a stagecoach with a 12-gauge to guard against bandits or unfriendly natives, in the “shotgun” position) has now evolved to a general term for calling dibs on anything - “Shotgun on the salt & vinegar crisps!”, for example. Also, just to be extra confusing, to “shotgun” can also refer to [an unorthodox method of consuming beer from a can](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgunning). ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621/20 "2014-05-04T13:03:48Z")
Passenger seat. Nobody would have a clue what “shotgun” meant. (Czech Republic) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-car-question/687621.md?page=2)