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You are here: Home / Language / Where does the term “big shot” come from and What does it mean?

Where does the term “big shot” come from and What does it mean?

February 27, 2020 by Karen Hill

A big shot is a person of importance.

This slang use is quite recent, developed within the current century, but it is a lineal descendant of “a big gun,” dating from the middle of the last century, and which in turn sprang from the union of “a great gun the early nineteenth century.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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