shit creek, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

shit creek n.

[fig. use of shit n. (1a) + SE creek]

an unpleasant, problematic situation; usu. in phr. below.

1981		W. Boyd Good Man in Africa 65: He felt sick [...] He'd handled everything so badly, misjudged and miscalculated all round [...] He knew in his heart that shit creek had claimed him this time.
2001		OnLine Dict. of Playground Sl. 🌐 shit creek n. a place of misfortune.

In phrases

up shit(’s) creek (also down shit creek without a paddle, in it without a paddle, up salt creek (without a paddle), up shit creek and no paddle, up shit creek in leaky gumboots, up shit creek without a paddle (in a barbed-wire canoe, …in a leaky canoe), up shit creek without a paddle to piss on, up shit crick)

(orig. US) in serious trouble.

1868		Message of the President of the United States and Accompanying Documents to the Two Houses of Congress 480: He, Parker, then said, ‘well, our men put old Lincoln up Shit creek, and we’ll put old Dill up’.
1907		Eve. News (Ada, OK) 6 Apr. n.p.: Some one will start up ‘Salt Creek’ without a paddle.
1911		Out West Oct. 241: ‘Up the flume’ was handed down to us by the forty-niners, as was ‘petered out’; ‘up Salt Creek,’ a synonymous expression, defies research.
1925		E. Hemingway letter 22 Apr. in Baker Sel. Letters (1981) 157: The stuff is so tight and hard and everything hangs on everything else and it would all just be shot up shit creek.
c.1930		(ref. to late 19C) N. Kimball Amer. Madam (1981) 228: I’d be, as he put it, ‘Up shat [sic] creek and no paddle’.
1930		(con. 1900s–10s) Dos Passos 42nd Parallel in USA (1966) 72: We’re up shit creek now for fair.
1939		P.G. Brewster ‘Folk “Sayings” From Indiana’ in AS XIV:4 263: An unlucky person is ‘up Salt Creek without a paddle’.
a.1940		‘Peter Pullin’ Blues’ in G. Logsdon Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing (1995) 273: Well it hurt so gawdamned bad that the hard on that I’d had / It was gone and I was stranded up shit crick.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 184/1: Salt creek, up. In a precarious or hopeless position; checkmated; stalemated; in prison; awaiting execution; facing inevitable disaster.
1956		Kerouac letter 24 Feb. in Charters I (1995) 562: I’m really up shit creek.
1963		G. Lambert Inside Daisy Clover (1966) 191: I had to let Melora know that I was up shit creek [...] without making it clear to this woman just how I’d been left without a paddle.
1968		N. Heard Howard Street 166: If Darden took the money [...] He’d be up shit creek without a paddle, in a leaky canoe.
1970		T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 180: These fucking boogs may turn cannibal at any minute! Then we’d really be up shit creek!
1974		D. Ireland Burn 97: Wants to get his hands on her and if he ever does I’ll be up shit creek without a paddle.
1974		D. Goines Daddy Cool (1997) 40: At his age, if he lost this job his ass would be up shit’s creek.
1979		D. Maitland Breaking Out 291: Crewe was well and truly right up shit creek in a barbed-wire canoe.
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 171: He wouldn’t tell the wrong people, Augie, because his ass would be up shit’s creek if he did.
1986		P. Barker Liza’s England (1996) 40: Aye and where would you’ve been ’n’all? Up shit creek with your arse hanging out of your britches. That’s where.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 117/1: up shit creek in leaky gumboots in trouble; variant on being up shit creek without a paddle.
1990		(con. c.1970) G. Hasford Phantom Blooper 234: Ain’t nobody gonna give no job to no crazy Veet-Nam veteran. You’re up shit creek without a paddle, boy.
1996		J. Cameron It Was An Accident 248: He was already up shit creek so fuck it and go for the whole bundle.
1996		P. Temple Bad Debts (2012) [ebook] I got to go. I’m further up shit creek if I don’t get to town in about five minutes.
1996		Dean Ween ‘Piss Up a Rope’ 🎵 Now you’re up shits creek with a turd for a paddle / [...] / You can piss up a rope.
1999		T. Fontana ‘Out o' Time’ Oz ser. 3 ep. 8 [TV script] He’d better win, O’Reilly, or you’re up shit’s creek, with no paddle.
2000		Indep. Rev. 18 May 6: This is the story of my life! Up shit creek without a paddle.
2001		K. Waterhouse Soho 29: He was in it without a paddle.
2001		‘Randy Everhard’ Tattoo of a Naked Lady 6: I was up shit creek without a paddle to piss on.
2002		J. Cameron Hell on Hoe Street 217: I reckon you down shit creek without a paddle.
2004		R.G. Barrett Rosa Marie’s Baby (2013) [ebook] All of a sudden Les was up shit creek.
2004		P. Howard PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids 36: You end up totally up shit creek without a no-claims bonus.
2010		L. Redhead Thrill City [ebook] My only hope had been the job in Vietnam, but that was up shit creek.
2011		G. Hayward Corruption Officer [ebk] cap. 49: When he came in and sat down our eye contact said it all. We both knew we were up shits creek.
2021		C. Hammer Opal Country 436: ‘[I]t sounds like you’re up shit creek’.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 797: ‘Where are we... I lost my bearings...’ ‘I’ll find them... don’t worry.’ She used the Up Sht Ceek app on her iPhone [ibid] 803: [W]e were Up Sht Ceek - the place not the app... murderers in all but name.