Re: USAGE: The four shits in English

On Fri, 15 Oct 1999 melissap@ocp.org wrote:

> And DB said:
> >Quoth Theodore Kloba:
> >> David Brookshire Conner wrote:
> >> > shit for brains - stupid
> >> > shit-faced - drunk
> >> > shit a (backwards) porcupine - to become extremely upset and angry
> >> > the little shit(s) - annoying bad person, incompetent bumbler
> >> > sack of shit - a pathetic person, alt. a big lie
> >>
> >> Don't forget "to shit a brick," which is another (dialectical?) variation
> >> on "shit a porcupine" above.
>
> >Yes, and "built like a brick shithouse" for someone who is built, well,
> >rather sturdily. :)
>
> And nowadays we have the rather delicate "Put up or shut up." But my
> grandmother was fond of saying, "Shit or get off the
> pot."
Also, "To give someone the shits", i.e. to be the object of their ire.

Walter Mack
mack@uq.net.au