TO KISS (or MARRY) THE GUNNER’S DAUGHTER, verb. phr. (nautical).—To be flogged. [GUNNER’S DAUGHTER = the gun to which boys were lashed for punishment.]
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
1833. MARRYAT, Peter Simple, II. xiii. I don’t know what officers are made of nowadays. I’ll marry some of you young gentlemen to the GUNNER’S DAUGHTER before long. Quarter-deck’s no better than a bear-garden.
