must-say1You must say the word “Shotgun” to stake your claim on Shotgun. This must be done clearly and loud enough so that at least one other to-be occupant of the vehicle can hear you. No variations of this word are acceptable.

After you have legally called Shotgun, you have exclusive rights to Shotgun for that ride and the deed is done. However, if no one verifies your Shotgun call, it is still fair game for everyone.

Any person who wishes to claim shotgun must actually pronounce the word “Shotgun”. One may not say the name of a type of shotgun, such as “12 Gauge.” If a passenger does, then he or she can lay no claim to shotgun, and it may be called by another person.

A passenger may only receive shotgun if they say shotgun within the context of calling shotgun. For instance, a passenger may not be awarded shotgun if he says, “Did anybody call shotgun?”, or if they were talking about a shotgun.

If you reside in a non-English-speaking locale, Shotgun may be called by its native word. For instance, in Sweden, the word “Hagelbossa” may be pronounced, while in Germany, “Schrotflinte.”  Shotgun may be called in any language the driver is fluent in. “Fluent” is described here as being proficient enough in a language to understand conversation exchanges.

Non-English Calls: Order of preference rewards English (shotgun’s native language) then the language closest to the native language of the locale in which Shotgun is called. For instance, if the call is made in Sweden, and the only calls were “Schrotflinte” and “Escopeta” (Spanish), respectively, the seat will be given to the second caller, as German is closer-related to Swedish than Spanish is.

Once Shotgun has been claimed, alternate seats can be claimed in the same manner. After all, who wants to get caught riding bitch?