Re: USAGE: The four shits in English

On Wed, 13 Oct 1999, Padraic Brown wrote:

> Curious.  Whose English(es) be these in?  We've only got "bullshit" in
> Maryland/Washington.  Probably because of Congress, etc.
>
> Padraic.
In case you're interested, all four are recognized in my part of the world
(Queensland, Australia).

> On Wed, 13 Oct 1999, John Cowan wrote:
>
> >For reference, English recognizes four standard kinds of metaphorical
> >excrement.
> >
> >"Bullshit" means "nonsense, lies, claptrap".
> >
> >"Dogshit" means "something of zero importance".
> >
> >"Horseshit" is similar to bullshit.
> >
> >"Apeshit" is used only in the phrase "to go apeshit", which means to
> >behave in a lunatic way, either approving or disapproving of something.
There are many other variants of the above, but they all fit roughly into
the same 4 categories.. (pick an animal and add "shit" after it :P)

Walter Mack
mack@uq.net.au