sure as shooting

Idioms  

1. Most certainly, as in It's going to snow tonight, sure as shooting, or That grizzly is sure as shooting going to make dinner out of us. This idiom has replaced the older sure as a gun, dating from the mid-1600s, a time when guns fired with far less certainty. [Second half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

All sweeping statements should be qualified or trouble will ensue, sure as shooting.

From Time Magazine Archive

And you sure as shooting don’t need an outhouse if you don’t have folks living nearby.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

But sure as shooting, this was the other person the Preacher said we were gonna have to go see.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

“As sure as shooting I heard some one cough!” exclaimed John in an undertone.

From Far Past the Frontier by Fry, W. H.

"Dem leetle clouds lak sheep-wool all de sam, wid haze where she touch de ice sure sign, sure as shooting, sure as de diable."

From In the Van; or, The Builders by Price-Brown, John