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This article is about the word "shit". For the bodily waste, see . For the egestion of bodily wastes, see . For the Lady Gaga song "Scheisse", see . For other uses, see .
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Shit is a word that is usually considered
in . As a noun it refers to
matter, and as in the plural ("the shits") it means . Shite is a common variant in
and . As a slang term, it has many meanings, including: nonsense, foolishness, something of little value or quality, trivial and usually boastful or inaccurate talk, or a contemptible person. It may also be used as an expression of annoyance, surprise, or anger.
The word is likely derived from , having the nouns scite (dung, attested only in place names) and scitte (diarrhoea), and the verb scītan (to defecate, attested only in bescītan, to cover with excrement); eventually it morphed into
schītte (excrement), schyt (diarrhoea) and shiten (to defecate), and it is virtually certain that it was used in some form by preliterate
tribes at the time of the . The word may be further traced to Proto-Germanic *skit-, and ultimately to
*skheid- "cut, separate", the same root believed to have become the word . The word has several
in modern , such as
skitt etc.
had 'skōr' (gen. 'skatos' hence 'scato-'), from Proto-Indo-European *sker-, which is likely unrelated.
The word shit (also shite in
and ) is usually avoided in formal speech.
substitutes for the word shit in English include shoot, shucks, and "sugar".
In the word's literal sense, it has a rather small range of common usages. An unspecified or collective occurrence of feces is generally shit or some shit; a single deposit of feces is sometimes a shit or a piece of shit; and to defecate is to shit or to take a shit. While it is common to speak of shit as existing in a pile, a load, a hunk, and other quantities and configurations, such expressions flourish most strongly in the figurative. For practical purposes, when actual defecation and excreta are spoken of, it is either through creative euphemism or with a vague and fairly rigid literalism.[]
Piece of shit may also be used figuratively to describe a particularly loathsome individual.
Shit can be used as a generic mass noun similar to stuff; for instance, This show is funny shit or This test is hard shit, or That was stupid shit. These three usages (with funny, hard, and stupid or another
of stupid) are heard most commonly in the United States.
In the expression Get your shit together! the word shit may refer to some set of personal belongings or tools, or to one's wits, composure, or attention to the task at hand. He doesn't have his shit together suggests he is failing rather broadly, with the onus laid to multiple personal shortcomings, rather than bad luck or outside forces.
To shoot the shit is to have a friendly but pointless conversation, as in "Come by my place some time and we'll shoot the shit."
A shithole is any unpleasant place to be, much like a hellhole. This usage originates from a reference to a .
The phrase built like a brick shithouse is used to compliment a person, or sometimes a thing, by suggesting it is well-built or aesthetically attractive. In English-speaking countries other than the U.S. it is used to compliment men wit in the U.S. it is used to compliment particularly shapely women. This meaning originates from the observation that most shithouses are rather ramshackle affairs constructed of plywood or scrap sheets of steel. For those in need, and in inclement weather, certainly a brick shithouse would be a welcome sight.
The shitter is a slang term for a toilet, and can be used akin to the phrase ...down the toilet to suggest that something has been wasted. Example: "This CD player quit working one friggin' week after I bought it, and I lost the receipt! Twenty bucks right down the shitter!"
Shit on a shingle is a U.S. military slang term for creamed chipped beef on toast. In polite company this can be abbreviated as SOS.
To shit oneself or to be scared shitless can be used to refer to surprise or fear, usually figuratively. The variation to shit bricks can be commonly seen in a form of
which goes by the phrase when you see it, you will shit bricks, used in connection with an image of a busy scene with an often unnoticed laughing face or disturbing object which is hard to see until you study the picture.[]
The word can also be used to represent anger, as in Jim is totally going to flip his shit when he sees that we wrecked his marriage.[]
Shit can be used to denote trouble, by saying one is in a lot of shit or deep shit (a common euphemism is deep doo-doo). It's common for someone to refer to an unpleasant thing as hard shit (You got a speeding ticket? Man, that's some hard shit), but the phrase tough shit is used as an unsympathetic way of saying too bad to whoever is having problems (You got arrested? Tough shit, man!) or as a way of expressing to someone that they need to stop complaining about something and cope with it instead (Billy: I got arrested because of you! Tommy: Tough shit, dude, you knew you might get arrested when you chose to come with me.) Note that in this case, as in many cases with the term, tough shit is often said as a way of pointing out someone's fault in his/her own current problem. It's also common to express annoyance by simply saying Shit.
Up shit creek or especially Up shit creek without a paddle describes a situation in which one is in severe difficulties with no apparent means of solution.
Shit happens means that bad happenings in life are inevitable. This is usually spoken with a sigh or a shrug, but can be spoken derisively to someone who complains too often about his ill fortunes, or in an irritating manner.
When the shit hits the fan is usually used to refer to a specific time of confrontation or trouble, which requires decisive action. This is often used in reference to combat situations and the action scenes in movies, but can also be used for everyday instances that one might be apprehensive about. I don't want to be here when the shit hits the fan! indicates that the speaker is dreading this moment (which can be anything from an enemy attack to confronting an angry parent or friend). He's the one to turn to when the shit hits the fan is an indication that the person being talked about is dependable and will not run from trouble or abandon their allies in tough situations. The concept of this phrase is simple enough, as the actual substance striking the rotating blades of a fan would cause a messy and unpleasant situation (much like being in the presence of a ). Whether or not this has actually happened, or if the concept is simply feasible enough for most people to imagine the result without needing it to be demonstrated, is unknown. Another example might be the saying shit rolls downhill, a metaphor suggesting that trouble for a manager may be transferred to the subordinates. There are a number of anecdotes and jokes about such situations, as the imagery of these situations is considered to be funny. This is generally tied-in with the concept that disgusting and messy substances spilled onto someone else are humorous.
Shit can comfortably stand in for the terms bad and anything in many instances (Dinner was good, but the movie was shit. You're all mad at me, but I didn't do shit!). A comparison can also be used, as in Those pants look like shit, or This stuff tastes like shit. Many usages are . I'm shit out of luck usually refers to someone who is at the end of their wits or who has no remaining viable options. That little shit shot me in the , suggests a mischievous or contemptuous person. Euphemisms such as crap are not usually used in this context.
The term piece of shit is generally used to classify a product or service as being sufficiently below the writer's understanding of generally accepted quality standards to be of negligible and perhaps even negative value. The term piece of shit has greater precision than shit or shitty in that piece of shit identifies the low quality of a specific component or output of a process without applying a derogatory slant to the entire process. For example, if one said "The inner city youth orchestra has been a remarkably successful initiative in that it has kept young people off the streets after school and exposed them to culture and discipline, thereby improving their self esteem and future prospects. The fact that the orchestra's recent rendition of Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony in B minor was pretty much a piece of shit should not in any way detract from this." The substitution of shit or shitty for pretty much a piece of shit would imply irony and would therefore undermine the strength of the statement.
The term "I don't/doesn't give a shit" can be used when one does not care about something, or has a passive attitude toward said thing, as it denotes . In context, one can say: "You're offended? Well, I don't give a shit!"
“You can’t polish shit” is a popular aphorism roughly equivalent to "putting ".
Shit can also be used to establish superiority over another being. The most common phrase is eat shit! expressing hatred of the addressee. Some other personal word may be added such as eat my shit implying truly personal connotations. As an aside, the above is actually a contraction of the phrase eat shit and die!.[] It is often said witho they command the other party to perform exactly those actions in that order. However, the term was originally Eat, Shit, and Die naming the three most basic things humans have to do, and it is common among .[]
The phrase You ain't shit, expresses an air of intimidation over the addressee, expressing that they mean nothing or are worthless.
Hot shit can be a reference to a matter or thing of supreme importance or urgency ("This report is really hot shit!"). It can be used in adjectival form: "This memo's shit-hot!". Hot shit can also refer to a person who either overestimates his own worth or ability, or is highly estimated by others ("He thinks he's some hot shit!" or "He's one hot shit!"). In polite company the euphemism hotshot may be substituted when referring to a person.
A speaker may indicate dominance through arrogance using the phrase His shit don't stink (though ungrammatical, this is the accepted diction). This conveys that the referent considers himself beyond reproach. For example: "Those pompous assholes in Finance are the ones who laid low the company -- their shit don't even stink!"
In North American slang, prefixing the article the to shit gives it a completely opposite definition, meaning the best, as in
is the shit, or
is the shit. Other slang words of the same meaning, such as crap, are not used in such locutions.
Main article:
The expression no shit? (a contraction of no bullshit?) is used in response to a statement that is extraordinary or hard to believe. Alternatively the maker of the hard-to-believe statement may add no shit to reinforce the sincerity or truthfulness of their statement, particularly in response to someone expressing disbelief at their statement. No shit is also used sarcastically in response to a statement of the obvious, as in no shit, .
In this form the word can also be used in phrases such as don't give me that shit or you're full of shit. The term full of shit is often used as an exclamation to charge someone who is believed to be prone to dishonesty, exaggeration or is thought to be "phoney" with an accusation. For example:
"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot to invite you to the party, it was a complete accident... But you really didn't miss anything anyway."
"You're full of shit! You had dozens of opportunities to invite me. If you have a problem with me, why not just say it!"
The word bullshit also denotes false or insincere discourse. ( is roughly equivalent, while chickenshit means cowardly,
indicates a person is crazy, and going
indicates a person is entering a state of high excitement or unbridled rage.) Are you shitting me?! is a question sometimes given in response to an incredible assertion. An answer that reasserts the veracity of the claim is, I shit you not.
Perhaps the only constant
that shit reliably carries is that its referent holds some degree of emotional intensity for the speaker. Whether offense is taken at hearing the word varies greatly according to listener and situation, and is related to age and :
speakers and those of (or aspiring to) higher
strata tend to use it more privately and selectively than younger and more
Like the word , shit is often used to add emphasis more than to add meaning, for example, shit! I was so shit-scared of that shithead that I shit-talked him into dropping out of the karate match! The term to
connotes bragging or exaggeration (whereas to talk shit primarily means to gossip [about someone in a damaging way] or to talk in a boastful way about things which are erroneous in nature), but in such constructions as the above, the word shit often functions as an .
Unlike the word fuck, shit is not used emphatically with -ing or as an infix. F I lost the shitting karate match would be replaced with ...the fucking karate match. Similarly, while in-fucking-credible is generally acceptable, in-shitting-credible is not.
of shit are attested as shat, shit, or shitted, depending on dialect and, sometimes, the rhythm of the sentence. In the prologue of , shitten is used as however this form is not used in modern English. In American English shit as a past participle is often correct, while shat is generally acceptable and shitted is uncommon and missing from the
dictionaries.
form "S.H.I.T." often figures into jokes, like Special High Intensity Training (a well-known joke used in job applications), Special Hot Interdiction Team (a mockery on ), Super Hackers Invitational Tournament, and any
name that begins with an S-H (like Sam Houston Institute of Technology or South Harmon Institute of Technology in the 2006 film
or Store High In Transit in the 2006 film ). South Hudson Institute of Technology has sometimes been used to describe the
at West Point. '
was a graduate student at Springfield Heights Institute of Technology.
In polite company, sometimes
such as Sugar Honey in Tea or Sugar Honey Iced Tea are used.
The word has become increasingly acceptable on American
and , which are not subject to
regulation. In other English-speaking countries, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand the word is allowed to be used in
by the regulative councils of each area, as long as it is used in late hours when young people are not expected to be watching. It has appeared on ' .
"Shit" was one of the original "", a comedy routine by the American comedian . In the United States, although the use of the word is censored on broadcast network television (while its
is not usually subject to censorship), the
permitted some exceptions. For example:
The 14 October 1999 episode of
is believed to be the first show (excluding ) on U.S. network television to contain the word shit in uncensored form.
The word also is used in a later
episode "" by Dr. , while experiencing the final stages of a deadly . Although the episode was originally aired uncensored, the "shit" utterance has since been edited out in syndicated reruns.[]
An episode of , "" (original airdate 20 June 2001), parodied the hype over the Chicago Hope episode. In it, "shit" is used 162 times, and a counter in the corner of the screen tallies the repetitions (excluding the 38 instances of the word's use in written forms, the raising the total to an even 200). South Park airs on American cable networks, which are outside the FCC's regulatory jurisdiction and whose censorship of vulgar dialogue is at the discretion of the cable operators.
Since that episode, the word has become a mainstay of South Park, along with programming on other cable networks including
and as of March 2014, . Episodes of
also use "shit" regularly.
In Canada, "shit" is one of the words considered by the
to be "coarse, offensive language intended for adults", acceptable for broadcast only after 9:00pm.
On the Canadian
television show characters
frequently use the term "shit". For example, the fictional trailer park supervisor
employs many metaphors with the negative slang "shit" in one episode,[] Mr. Lahey likens 's growing ignorance to that of a "shit tsunami", while in another episode,[] Mr. Lahey tells
the " are swooping in low" due to his deplorable behavior and company. The term "shit" is also used in the titles of that show's episodes, themselves, e.g., "", "", and "".
On Japanese TV, such as anime, that is aired on American television the words "shit"and "bullshit" are uncensored. This is probably because of the ambiguity of the Japanese word "", which may also mean milder swear words like "crap", "crud", "damn", or "darn". It appears in subtitles from inaccurate translations or unsureness of its meaning.[]
It is believed that the first person to say "shit" on British TV was
comedy troupe, in the late 1960s, as he, himself, says in his
Another candidate is the February 1969 film , in which a union delegate uses the phrase "thick as pigshit" in the first scene.
This section does not
any . Please help improve this section by . Unsourced material may be challenged and . (July 2015) ()
Unlike , American terrestrial radio stations must abide by
guidelines on obscenity to avoid punitive fines. These guidelines do not define exactly what constitutes obscenity, but it has been interpreted by some commissioners as including any form of words like shit and fuck, for whatever use.[]
Despite this, the word has been featured in popular songs that have appeared on broadcast radio in cases where the usage of the word is not audibly clear to the casual listener, or on live television. For example:
In the song "" by , the line "Buried in my shit" was played unedited over most rock radio stations.
song "" from the album
contains the line "Don't give me that do goody good bullshit," and has frequently been broadcast unedited on US radio.
The 1980 hit album
contained the song "Tough Guys" which had the line "she thinks they're full of shit," that was played on broadcast radio.
On 3 December 1994,
performed "", on , shit was not edited from tape delay live broadcast. The band did not appear on the show again until 9 April 2005.
Some notable instances of censorship of the word from broadcast television and radio include:
's "." Although radio stations have sometimes played an unedited version containing the line "funky shit going down in the city." The songs was also released with a "" version, replacing the "funky shit" with "funky kicks". Another version of "Jet Airliner" exists in which the word "shit" is faded out.
Likewise, the
song "" has a line about having no idea "what kind of shit was about to go down," and has a radio edit version without the word.
's "" video had the original album's use of the word censored in its video.
The music video title "" by
replaced by the original title "Shit on the Radio (Remember the Days)."
This also happened to "" by
featuring , which became "".
In 's song "My Happy Ending," the
edit of the song replaces "all the shit that you do" with "all the stuff that you do."
Likewise, in the song "" by
member , the phrase "Oh Shit" is repeatedly used as a background line. A radio edit of this song replaced "Oh Shit" with "Oh Snap."
Using the term "shit" (or other locally used crude words) - rather than
- during campaigns and triggering events is a deliberate aspect of the
approach which aims to stop , a massive public health problem in .
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Trailer Park Boys – Complete Third Season, Alliance Atlantis, 2003 TPB III Productions. Disc 2
(Video). . 1999.
Galvin, M (2015). "Talking shit: is Community-Led Total Sanitation a radical and revolutionary approach to sanitation?". Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water. :.
Kal, K and Chambers, R (2008) , Plan UK Accessed
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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