Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a phr. used by someone suffering from diarrhoea; thus eye of a needle n.

1963		C. Wood ‘Spare’ in Cockade (1965) I i: And he’s sick – I’ve got the eye of a needle [...] squitters.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 179: shit through the eye of a needle to have diarrhea.
1999		D. Ireland Chosen 342: The whole crew discovered a sudden ability to shit through the eye of a needle.
2001		T. Carew Jihad! [ebook] By now I had the galloping bumsquirts – it was coming out so fast I could shit through the eye of a needle.
2005		A. Hopwood It’s Only Pain 58: But now, the morning after the night before I was suffering from the resulting dehydration with a bastard of a headache and the ability to shit through the eye of a needle.

(US) to be utterly stupid, to be totally confused.

1929		(con. WW1) Hall & Niles One Man’s War 231: Yesterday, I talked with a group of young officers. They told me that they would be just as happy under German Kultur as they are now. I didn’t know whether to scream or go blind.
1946		A. Chidester Long Year 107: ‘I knew it. Man doesn’t know whether to shit or go blind.’ ‘We've got to go somewheres [...] Chicago, maybe’.
c.1951		N. Algren ‘Watch Out for Daddy’ in Entrapment (2009) 130: He didn’t know whether to duck or go blind.
1959		A. Anderson ‘Suzie Q.’ in Lover Man 63: [O]ne time Miss Q. crossed them legs and her thigh hit up against mine and I didn’t know whether to peep or go blind.
1960		(con. WWII) G. Sire Deathmakers 301: Yeah, I know what your mean [...] Don’t know whether to shit or go blind.
1964		J. Thompson Pop. 1280 in Four Novels (1983) 463: He didn’t know whether to pee or go blind.
1973		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 1: Don’t know whether to shit or buy gas – an expression of total confusion. When I looked at that exam, I didn’t know whether to shit or buy gas.
1977		E. Bunker Animal Factory 60: Fool don’t know whether to shit or go blind.
1982		L. Block Eight Million Ways to Die 206: ‘Cause I didn’t know what to do, man. I didn’t know whether to shit or go blind’.
1984		W.D. Myers Outside Shot 73: We could see him standing out front [...] like he didn’t know whether to spit or go blind.
1992		J. Mowry Way Past Cool 227: Bet cops come round messin with you, they end up not knowin if to shit or go blind.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 229: We’d still be there on that porch, not knowin’ whether to shit or go blind.
2002		(con. 1998–2000) J. Lerner You Got Nothing Coming 266: I don’t know whether to shit, die, go blind, or just kill Wally.
2010		T. Comstock Reunion in Carmel 107: We don’t know whether to shit or go blind. Where the hell do we go from here?
2010		K. Richards Life 140: Confusion reigns. They don’t know whether to squat or go blind. I’m equally confused.
2014		D.B. Flowers Bangs 101: In the end, the gay man was so confused he didn’t know whether to shit or wind his wristwatch.
2017		T. Spicer Good Girl Stripped Bare 8: It’s a snake. I don’t know whether to shit or go blind.

(US black) a general retort to anyone who says ‘I wish...’.

1983

R. Klein Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.].

(Aus.) to show signs of worry, suffering.

1992

M. Coleman Fatty 237: ’[T]hey were shitting blue lights. It was a pea soup fog and they couldn’t see a thing. They were really sweating’.

used as a general insult.

1764

History of the Fotune-teller 86: The reign of S—t-Breeches James.

(US black/drugs) to excrete bags of drugs after swallowing them when facing a police search.

2000

Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 dump one’s change Definition: What one does after he’s swallowed his weed to hide it from the police Example: Man, I swallowed a half a key, now I’ll be shittin dimes and quarters for a week!

(US black) to earn or otherwise produce a good deal of money.

1972

N.C. Heard To Reach a Dream 39: He was going to be the baddest thing in town because he was going to have a woman who was able to shit gold bricks at his command.

1. to desire.

1951

C. & E. Jones Face of War 22: Jesse, I’d shit green for some K’s now ... wyan’t you just slide over there and forage us some now?

2. to be enraged.

1960, 1975

Wentworth & Flexner DAS.

3. to be afraid.

1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 279: The way he had everybody in the town shittin green until that bad bastard from Texas got on his ass and burndim.
1971		B. Malamud Tenants (1972) 62: He’s afraid, Lesser thought. Shits green. So do I, to admit the truth.

see under high cotton n.

(W.I.) to aim for or reach a higher social class than that to which one was born.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

(orig. US) to do anything that jeopardizes one’s life by its proximity to one’s personal, social or professional life, e.g. to steal from one’s own workplace, to conduct an affair with an in-law.

1960		‘Lord & Marshall’ So Willing 59: [I]t wasn’t as if he was crapping in his own back yard. No one knew him in Brighton.
1980		Barltrop & Wolveridge Muvver Tongue 90: The person who has spoiled things where he was once a favourite: ‘he’s shit in his nest’.
1985		R.G. Barrett You Wouldn’t Be Dead for Quids (1989) 109: Hey Les, we’re not shittin’ in your nest here. And I don’t see any coppers.
1986		C. Bowles G’DAY 85: Shane gets absolutely full, tries to con up his boss’s wife, and shits in his own nest.
2001		Aceyalone ‘Down Right Dirty’ 🎵 on Accepted Eclectic [album] I learned real early that life was hard / Never ever shit in your own backyard / Never fake the funk or front to play the part / Be smart, live life love, respect the art.
2010		L. Redhead Thrill City [ebook] ‘How come you’ve never tried to root me?’ ‘Mate, you’re my best friend [...] You don’t shit in your own nest’.
2011		D.R. Pollock Devil All the Time 159: He had never killed anyone in Ohio, didn’t believe in shitting in his own nest.
2012		L. Redhead ‘Grassed’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] You don’t shit in your own backyard, so find somewhere on Crown land.
2021		C. Hammer Opal Country 247: ‘[T]he low-life who shit in their own nest just to advance their own careers’.

(US) in fig use, to treat someone with contempt.

1981

D. Jenkins Baja Oklahoma 223: ‘Notre Dame’ll shit in your hat and hand it back to you before you get to the scrimmage line’ .

(orig. US) to commit a crime in one’s own neighbourhood; lit. and fig.; also applied to adulterous sex.

1954		S. Bellow Augie March 20: What he had to say was usually on the Spartan model [...] ‘Don't shit where you eat.’ One simple moral in all, amounting to, ‘You have no one to blame but yourself’.
1969		J. McElroy Hind’s Kidnap 248: As Maddy Beecher said vis-a-vis the beautiful IBM operator, You don't shit where you eat.
1978		A.Mann Tuesdays and Thursdays 82: Priscilla didn’t think he fooled around now, and ‘you don't shit where you eat’ was her motto anyway so she had always steered clear.
1983		N. Heard House of Slammers 33: They seemed to put a lot of store in that old adage, ‘Don’t shit where you eat.’.
1995		(con. 1985–90) P. Bourjois In Search of Respect 195: We were shitting in the same place where we eat — stealing right in our neighborhood.
2004		J. Ellroy ‘Hollywood Fuck Pad’ in Destination: Morgue! (2004) 205: Hollywood hemmed him in. He shit where he ate.
2011		E.W. Miller Mother Warned You 52: He was a subscriber to the axiom, ‘Don't shit where you eat!’ So he would go out of town in his van, alone, seeking victims among strangers.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] Every guy on Da Force would like to have sex with her, but she’s made it very clear she don’t shit where she eats.
2021		T. Pluck Boy from County Hell 92: ‘[M]y momma told me not to uh, mess where you eat’.

to become over-excited, to lose emotional control; thus attrib.

[1961		T. Taylor Baron’s Court All Change (2011) 95: [W]e were kids and shit our pants and everything].
1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 191: [T]hat fuck wilson and that ballbreaker harrington — Mr. Big-shit — sweatin it out. They mustta shit their pants when the trucks were bombed.
1998		R.G. Barrett Mud Crab Boogie (2013) [ebook] ‘Alright. Don’t shit your pants [...] We’re just going to do a couple of slow kilometres’.
2017		T. Pluck Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] ‘He’s even got Bello shitting his pants’.
2020		D. Winslow ‘Broken’ in Broken 14: ‘I’m lying there flat out [...] shitting my pants, thinking, we’re fucked’.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 53: Fox execs and rank and filers are shit-your-pants shook.

used of one who foolishly has adulterous affairs within their circle of friends and acquaintances.

1976		C. Dexter Last Seen Wearing in Second Morse Omnibus (1994) 445: There’s an old saying, isn’t there – if you’ll excuse the language – about not shitting on your own doorstep.
1993		I. Welsh Trainspotting 171: At least ah hud the decency no tae shite oan ma ain doorstep.
2005		B. Hare Urban Grimshaw 135: First and foremost among [my rules] was ‘Don’t shit on your own doorstep.’.
2011		C. Kray Doing the Business [ebook] Don’t shit on your own doorstep [...] Never steal off your own, be it cars, cash or wives.

see piss on someone’s parade under piss on v.

(US) to become involved in a sexual relationship with a friend or employee.

2001

G. Pelecanos Right As Rain 9: Friends warned him about shitting on the dining room table, but he was genuinely fond of the woman.

1. to make a last, desperate gamble; as an excl. of exasperation.

1879		‘The Triumph of Science over Physic’ in Pearl 5 Nov. 29: Home they brought the warrior, fed / To repletion more than just; / And the servants, chuckling, said, / ‘He must shit or he will bust.’.
1976		(ref. to 1950s) R. Barnes Coronation Cups and Jam Jars 189: Shit or bust, I’m packing it in.
1988		(con. WWII) J. Robinson Jack and Jamie Go to War 181: ‘What we gonna do?’ asked Buck [...] ‘Shit or bust!’ I said.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1971		(con. WWII) B. Aldiss Soldier Erect 112: You know me mate – I’m sit or bust! [Ibid.] 165: Never think one day ahead, forget consequences [...] be shit-or-bust!
1977		E. Torres Q&A 9: Three shots cracked between the prisoner’s legs. Reilly froze. Shit-or-go-blind time.

see separate entry.

ready (for work, for battle, etc).

2007

S. Low Boys From Baghdad 40: Later that morning, ‘shit, showered and shaved’, we had time on our hands before any move could be made .

(US) in fig. use, to make a mess, to collapse.

2006		G. Pelecanos Night Gardener 309: I got a confession out of Tinsley, but I shit the bed in the process. I roughed up Tinsley pretty bad.
2013		T. Robinson Hard Bounce [ebook] [T]he night before, the TV decided to shit the bed all the way.

(W.I.) to suffer, to be humiliated.

1983

C. Knight We Shall Not Die 55: Dem raas claat deh who oppress mi fi years shall pay. Dem shall shit through dem nose.

1. (also shit through the teeth) to vomit.

c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: Shiting through the Teeth Vomiting. Hark ye, sir, have you a Padlock to your Ar-e, that you sh-e through your Teeth? Vulgar address to one vomiting.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn) n.p.: Sh-t-ng through the Teeth. Vomiting. Hark ye, friend, have you got a padlock on your a-se, that you sh-te through your teeth? Vulgar address to one vomiting.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 160: Shitting through the teeth (vomiting, upchucking) is better left dead, for it could be confusing and be taken to mean ‘lying,’ etc.

2. (also shit through one’s mouth) to lie blatantly.

1977		Maledicta 1 Summer 14: If he is particularly ignorant or foolish, and proves it by talking loudly or a lot about things [...] he shits through his mouth.
1983		R. Klein Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. (unpub. ms.).

(US black) a general intensifer: ever, of all time.

2004

Simon & Pelecanos ‘Amsterdam’ Wire ser. 3 ep. 4 [TV script] He got to be one of the laziest white boys that ever shit between two shoes.

see separate entry.

see shit a brick v.

(US) to be terrified.

1974		V.E. Smith Jones Men 150: I’m sitting there shitting hot bullets.
1977		(con. 1949) J.G. Dunne True Confessions (1979) 153: He was pissing bullets there for a while, Tommy. Jesus, Des, having him palm a ticket so that Sonny McDonough’s daughter gets the new Studebaker.
2007		J. Konrath Air in the Paragraph Line #11 117: His older brother could make me shit bullets with an evil gaze.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] Everyone’s hunkered down, shitting bricks and waiting for that blow.

to be terrified or extremely excited; thus pant-shitting adj., terrified .

[1780		New London Jester 87: I have not beshit my breeches].
c.1813		‘Wellington’s Victory’ in Wellington’s Laurels 2: When the British came after so hot, / The French s--t their breeches with quaking.
1846		Hilpert & Kärcher German & Eng. 333/1: He looks as if he had shit his breeches.
1909–17		T.S. Eliot ‘Columbo & Bolo’ Inventions of the March Hare in Ricks (1996) 318: A bullet came along the road / And up Columbo’s asshole / Columbo grew so angry then / He nearly shit his breeches.
1939		H. Miller Tropic of Capricorn (1964) 82: I got so damned frightened that I almost shit in my pants.
1942		H. Miller Roofs of Paris (1983) 89: Peter’s almost shitting his pants with excitement.
1944		J.S. Pennell Hist. of Rome Hanks 41: I bet he shit his britches.
1951		R. Leveridge Walk on the Water 276: You’ll be so damned scared you’ll probably shit your pants.
1953		W. Brown Monkey On My Back (1954) 83: Sure, the f---- stud, almost s--- his pants when I pulled a joint (gun).
1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 191: They mustta shit their pants when the trucks were bombed.
1968		(con. c.1900) J. Thompson King Blood (1989) 87: That fella [...] gets me so God damned rattled. Jus’ looks at me an’ I start shittin’ in my pants.
1976		M. Braly False Starts 78: Most people are easy. You show them a gun and they shit their pants.
1979		D. Maitland Breaking Out 85: He’s shit his pants so much the stink is makin’ me sick.
1989		(con. 1956) P. Theroux My Secret Hist. (1990) 63: The time Libby shit his pants.
1993		T. Jones Pugilist at Rest 51: Just run. Did you shit your pants? Did you piss them? Who cares? Run. Just run.
1998		P. Bailey Kitty and Virgil (1999) 245: Are you shitting your pants yet?
1999		E. Bunker Mr Blue 245: I suppose they thought I would shit in my britches and hide.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 184: And what the fuck you think you’re doin [...] shittin your pants about some dead schwartza.
2000		T. Udo Vatican Bloodbath 89: ‘He’s your son!’ screamed Molder in pant-shitting mortal terror.
2001		Guardian G2 7 June 15: Of course he’s shitting his pants: he’s just heard his willy snap in half.
2004		A. Mansbach ‘Crown Heist’ in Brooklyn Noir 124: He was too petro [...] He was shitting his pants more than I was.
2015		I. Welsh Decent Ride 103: Then ah goat a panic call fae that American radge [...] shitein ehs fuckin kecks.

to be terrified, to act in a cowardly manner.

1994		I. Welsh ‘A Soft Touch’ in Acid House 51: Ah wis shitein it.
1998		I. Welsh Filth 21: Toal’s shiting it about this departmental reorganisation.
2000		T. Udo Vatican Bloodbath 111: He was shitting it because he owed large to local moneylender Big Tam Wilson.
2001		I. Welsh Glue 54: The perr auld gadge wis shitein it.
2006		G. Malkani Londonstani (2007) 105: You wos only late cos you wos so shittin it.
2009		L. McIlvanney All the Colours 190: ‘He’s shitting it. He knows we’re on to something’.
2012		(con. 1980s) I. Welsh Skagboys 58: Smack’s the only thing uh huvnae done [...] And ah must confess that ah’m fuckin shitein it.
2012		G. Johnstone ‘No Through Road’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] One pommie-lookin’ fella just straight out shits it, goes white as a sheet.
2018		I. Welsh Dead Man’s Trousers 132: The bastard [...] seized me by the wrist. I was shiteing it.
2020		G. Armstrong Young Team 32: ‘A wouldnae worry aboot they three. they shat it fae you’.

to be absolutely terrified.

1949

H. Miller Sexus (1969) 374: Who would think that the chubby little youngster beside you will in ten or fifteen years be shitting his brains out with fright on a foreign field.

to be absolutely terrified.

1993

I. Welsh Trainspotting 330: They fuckin telt us ye shat yir fuckin load.

see shit a brick v.

to terrify.

1994		I. Welsh ‘A Smart Cunt’ in Acid House 287: I piss blood, which shits me up.
1998		K. Sampson Awaydays 44: We decided to really shit them up by going up to the M62 and ambushing them.
2001		N. Barlay Hooky Gear 218: Dont it just shit you the fuck up?
2003		N. Griffiths Stump 184: We’re just gunner shit the fucker up, that’s all. Just say boo. Birrer fear, birruva welly.

(N.Z.) to be very frightened.

2003

McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

to be talking particularly loudly and foolishly.

1977

Maledicta 1 Summer 14: If he is particularly ignorant or foolish, and proves it by talking loudly or a lot about things [...] he’s doing a lot of shitting and his pants ain’t even down yet.

a phr. meaning one can’t fool someone who deals in fooling others.

1976		R. Price Blood Brothers 55: Stony, don’t bullshit a bullshitter, it’s Cheri, right?
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 70: ‘Don’t shit a shitter,’ I said, raising my voice. ‘I want the truth.’.
1999		T. Fontana ‘Cruel and Unusual Punishments’ Oz ser. 3 ep. [TV script] We’ve got a little saying in this country [...] ‘You can’t shit a shitter’.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 554: You’re a slumlord, Ralphie. Do not try to shit a well-known shitter like me.
2001		‘Randy Everhard’ Tattoo of a Naked Lady 16: Sometimes you can shit a shitter.
2002		Simon & Burns ‘Old Cases’ Wire ser. 1 ep. 4 [TV script] ‘So what did you tell him?’ ‘Never shit a shitter, that’s what I fucking told him’.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 139: ‘Don’t shit a shitter and don’t playact with me’.

see sense 2

see sense 2

(US) an assertion of one’s sincerity, in answer to the previous speaker’s ‘Don’t bullshit me...’.

1970		D. Ponicsan Last Detail 17: ‘You’re shitting me,’ says Mule. ‘I wouldn’t shit you. You’re my favorite turd,’ says the chief.
1974		(con. 1960s) R. Price Wanderers 25: ‘You shittin’ me?’ ‘Would I shit you? You’re my favorite turd.’.
1979		(con. c.1970) G. Hasford Short Timers (1985) 160: I wouldn’t shit you, Joker. You’re my favorite turd.
1987		Hasford & Kurbrick Full Metal Jacket [movie script] pvt cowboy: Don’t shit me, man pvt joker: I wouldn’t shit you. You’re my favorite turd!
1999		CoolBeans.com 🌐 Cool Beans Records — The subtitle, ‘every fucking song is radio friendly’ is no lie. I wouldn’t shit you, you’re my favorite turd.
2013		T. Dorsey Riptide Ultra-Glide 8: ‘I wouldn’t shit you.’ ‘I know,’ said Coleman, ‘I’m your favorite turd’.

1. (also shit (all) over) to abuse, to humiliate; often as past participle shat on adj.

[1730		Swift ‘On the Longitude’ Misc. IV (1751) 139: Now Ditton and Whiston May both bep-st on, And Whiston and Ditton May both be besh-t on].
[1772		Bridges Burlesque Homer (3rd edn) 96: May I be trampl’d, pist, and sh-t on, / If I don’t think you right].
c.1865		in T.P. Lowry Stories the Soldiers Wouldn’t Tell (1994) 43: [Having made a hash of his command functions, he then went to a mess tent and created a row with his fellow officers, calling them things such as] ‘son of a bitch, God damned liar and damned dog’ and asked a colleague if he would ‘allow a nigger to shit on him’.
c.1900		Actionable Offenses Young Cylinder C (2007) [cylinder recording] ‘Where’s the water closet?’ After being shown, he got ready to sit down when all at once, he exclaimed, ‘Saint Peter!’ Saint Peter answered. Said the minister, ‘I can’t use this!’ ‘Why?’ said Saint Peter. ‘Because,’ said the minister, ‘I can see my congregation way down below here’ ‘Shit on them,’ said Saint Peter. ‘They did on you when upon Earth’.
1955		J.P. Donleavy Ginger Man (1958) 261: Even so, they shit on them in U.S.
1959		W. Burroughs Naked Lunch (1968) 58: Who can shit on a fallen adversary.
1968		T. Wolfe Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1969) 31: St. Paul said, if they shit on you in one city, move on to another city.
1974		G.V. Higgins Cogan’s Trade (1975) 20: All the guys they’ll be shitting all over you, stealing dogs, for Christ’s sake.
1978		A. Brink Rumours of Rain 115: ‘I shit on this Court!’ he shouted [...] ‘I shit on the lot of you! I shit on the whole sordid system which forces one to turn against one’s friends.’.
1990		(con. c.1970) G. Hasford Phantom Blooper 29: Beaver, the only reason you like to get close to people is so that you won’t miss when you decide to shit on them.
2005		Observer Mag. 27 Nov. 10: Once you let them shit over you, that’s when the real liberty-taking starts.
2007		W. Ellis Crooked Little Vein 70: If you’ve done shitting on your girlfriend and generally dicking around, take off your clothes.
2011		T. Pluck ‘Freedom Bird’ in Life During Wartime (2018) 2: ‘You think he’s gonna let you drive it, the way he shits all over you?’.
2012		C. Stella Rough Riders 93: We’re [i.e. Native Americans] no different than any other group, except we were shit on a lot more than the rest.
2015		J. Spades ‘Chicken Soup’ 🎵 Niggas be hating but that’s what bitches do / Cause we shitting on niggas like pigeons do.

2. to deal with comprehensively.

1998		Hip-Hop Connection Dec. 17: He just shitted on that song, went all out.
2001		Source Aug. 38: He dissed Shyne, got shitted on by Pac.

3. to defeat, e.g. in a sporting fixture; to surpass.

1985		R.G. Barrett You Wouldn’t Be Dead for Quids (1989) 19: This dead set shits on cartin’ beef.
1998		R.G. Barrett Mud Crab Boogie (2013) [ebook] ‘But it shits on pumping vomit out of drunks and pulling vibrators out of poof’s dates in a casualty ward’.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

4. to talk tediously.

2000

P. Howard Miseducation of Ross O’Carroll-Kelly (2004) 209: What are you shiting on about now?

(orig. RAF) to be extremely unpleasant, to make a great deal of trouble for someone else; usu. as past participle, see shat on adj.

1921		N&Q 12 Ser. IX 418: A very telling expression was that commonly used by a man who had been ‘told off’ at the orderly room, that he had been ‘s–-t on from a great height’.
1984		Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 1054/1: since ca. 1925.
1989		R.G. Barratt ‘Tall Poppie Deserve Short Shrift’ in What Do You Reckon (1997) [ebook] I feel like pissing on them from a great height.
1993		R. Hill Recalled to Life 105: The judge would hit the ceiling, then cling on up there so he could shit on you from a great height!
2000		Guardian 13 Apr. 20: Where do you stand on Asylum Seekers? We prefer to shit on them from a great height.
2007		S. Maloney Sucked In 49: We’ll make a good showing [...] Then you’ll shit on us from a great height.
2012		in smh.com.au 29 Dec. 🌐 ‘I fall in love with women who then shit on me from a great height’.
2021		P Howard Braywatch 121: ‘We got shat on from a height, Ro. I won’t go into the details’.
2023		J. Jackson Pineapple Street 199: ‘Are you having trouble finding people who will let you shit on them from a great height?’.

(US black) to dismiss.

[1726		Art of Meditating over an House of Office 2: There is nothing the Vulgar betray their Ignorance and the wrong Conceptions they entertain of things more in, when they bid a Person, whom they would show their disesteem of, Go Shite].
1968		J. Colebrook Cross of Lassitude 40: Aunt Jeanette can tell anyone to go shit.

to waste time, to act halfheartedly, to mess around.

1942		H. Miller Roofs of Paris (1983) 61: Stop shitting around and get her fucked, will you?
1967		letter in Oz 4 3/4: Why don’t you stop shitting about [...] If you want to be different, print something to contravene the Obscene Publications Act [...] not infantile pictorial stupidity.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 6: Hey, Murphy, I was just shittin’ around.

(Aus./N.Z.) to win easily.

1984		W. Ammon et al. Working Lives 89: Knobby reckons it’ll shit in.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 101/1: shit in win easily.
1996		J. Byrell Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers 268: ‘Just the same he shit it in again - ’n’ any sorta win’s better than a boot up the blurter, isn’t it?’.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].

1. to annoy, to irritate; thus as adj., annoyed.

1974		Adamson & Hanford Zimmer’s Essay 112: Shit off with this fake dome of a life; why should I remain here locked up in my own buckling cells?
1993		T. Winton Lockie Leonard: Scumbuster (1995) 108: My dad says the mayor is seriously shat-off about it.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.
2004		T. Winton ‘Big World’ in Turning (2005) 2: It’s not hosing blood that shits me off – it’s Angelus itself.
2007		in Metro (London) 13 Apr. 11: Bring more drink – were gunna run out quick & you will be shitted then.

2. to run away.

1959		I. & P. Opie Lore and Lang. of Schoolchildren (1977) 213: Shit off, shove off, skedaddle.
1986		S. King It (1987) 584: I’m a man wit’ a plan an if you doan shit, you goan git! You hear me, you whiteface bunghole?
2000		Indep. Rev. 27 May 8: Shit off, you wanker.

3. to be quiet.

1966

G. Fletcher Down Among the Meths Men 44: He’s a spy, said one. He’s a copper’s nark. Oh, shit off, will yer, said Liverpool Jack [...] E’s nowt ter do wiv the cops.

1. to behave as a coward, to run away from danger or confrontation.

1969		J. Crumley One to Count Cadence (1987) 81: Somebody will shit out. Somebody will! Somebody always does.
1993		I. Welsh Trainspotting 153: S no a question ay shitein oot Franco. Ah’m jist no intae it.

2. to terrify.

1972

C. Bukowski Erections, Ejaculations etc. 166: There was a rapping on the door that damn near shitted me out.

3. to abuse, to scold.

1982

P. Slabolepszy Sat. Night at the Palace (1985) 13: What does he expect me to do? None of our okes in sight! If I tried a chip and missed, he would have shat me out. If I pulled the ball back with no one there, he still would have shat me out.

(US) a general excl. of abuse; extended versions are go shit in your hat and pull it down over your ears (and call it curls)!/go crap in your hat, pull it over your head and call it curls!

[1660		E. Montagu lettter to Samuel Pepys 7 Oct. n.p.: He that do get a wench with child and marry her afterwards is as if a man should shit in his hat and then clap it on his head [R]].
c.1895		Actionable Offenses ‘Slim Hadley on a Racket’ (2007) [cylinder recording ENMS 30190] ‘You just give me a dollar!’ ‘You just go and scratch your ass—Jesus, no scrouge, no dollar, that’s the way it is with me’ ‘You give me a dollar or I’ll have you arrested’ ‘You go shit in your hat, you damn gall bladder’ [Laughs].
1922		‘J.H. Ross’ Mint (1955) 100: We passed two trim airmen on the road, with shrieks of ‘Up yer’ [...] ‘Shit in it,’ they called back, rudely.
1941		B. Schulberg What Makes Sammy Run? (1992) 124: If he don’t like the fifty bucks he can crap in his hat, pull it over his head and call it curls.
1942		R. Chandler High Window 113: ‘Well, I’ll run along now and check with the officer of the club,’ I said. ‘Tell him to go spit up his left trousers leg,’ he said. ‘Tell him I said so.’.
1948		(con. 1944) N. Mailer Naked and Dead 611: Go crap in your hat.
1951		D. Dressler Parole Chief 32: I have a message for you from Commissioner Canavan. Go spit in your hat!
1968		(con. c.1900) J. Thompson King Blood (1989) 193: Go shit in your hat!
1971		(con. WWII) B. Aldiss Soldier Erect 72: Shit in it, Geordie!
1972		D. Jenkins Semi-Tough 151: You can tell ’em to go shit in their wallets and they don’t get their feelings hurt and they don’t hold grudges.
1976		J. Heller Good As Gold (1979) 217: ‘I hope she gives you the clap and the syph.’ ‘Go shit in your hat.’.
1977		Maledicta 1 Summer 11: Disliked or inconvenient persons may be [...] asked: why don’t you go shit in a pot and duck your head? [Ibid.] 12: Disliked or inconvenient persons may be [...] told [...] More ornately: go shit in your hat and pull it down over your ears – and call it curls! No one would mistake these for compliments.
1980		T. McClenaghan Submariners II ii: Fuck’s sake, shit in it.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 352: go shit in your hat (and pull it down over your ears), to. To go chase yourself, only more so; a most emphatic rejection.
1992		R.G. Barrett Davo’s Little Something 6: Davo would dearly have loved to tell her to go and pull her fanny over her head and him to go shit in his rotten copper’s hat.
2004		J. McSherry A Clean Street’s a Happy Street 56: ‘Oh, go shit in your hat Dolores,’ he hollered.

(N.Z.) an excl. of amazement.

1971

N. Armfelt Catching Up 104: ‘Jes’, Graham, shit and fall back on it! Have you ever seen such a display of zoology?’ The Twist was being danced.

be quiet!

1988

(con. WWII) J. Robinson Jack and Jamie Go to War 57: ‘Shit in it!’ said a voice in the dark. That meant ‘keep quiet’ among the old-timers.

a general excl. of dismissal.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

an excl. of surprise, astonishment, resignation.

1971		I. Faust Willy Remembers 145: ‘Shit me easy, Benny,’ I said.
1977		T. Berger Who is Teddy Villanova? 23: The coloreds drink that like water. But if I did, no nigger’d be thirsty, shit on me.
1996		J. Cameron It Was An Accident 189: Fuckin’ shit me man.

(also shit for...! shit to...!) an excl. of dismissal, equivalent to the hell with...! under hell n. (cf. shite on...! under shite v.).

[1614		Jonson Bartholomew Fair IV iv: Upon your justice-hood? Marry shit o’ your hood!].
1936		J.T. Farrell World I Never Made 339: I don’t care. Shit on the world! Piss on the world! [Ibid.] 490: Say, shit for him! He ran over my precious son.
1953		R. Mais Hills were Joyful Together (1966) 188: ‘Shit to you!’ said Chippie.
1961		(con. 1945) G. Forbes Goodbye to Some (1963) 147: Shit on him.
1965		C. Himes Cotton Comes to Harlem (1967) 178: ‘If we’re not there leave a number and we’ll call back.’ ‘Shit on that,’ she said.
1970		C. Brown Down All the Days 147: Ah, shit on yeh sanctimonious oul kisser!
1974		G.V. Higgins Cogan’s Trade (1975) 33: What the fuck, huh? [...] the protection’s really there, well, shit on it.
1978		W. Groom Better Times Than These (1979) 41: Shit on rumors—I don’t stop ’em, I start ’em.
1978		P. Theroux Picture Palace 183: ‘He jess thew it outa winda,’ said Orrie. ‘Shit on him,’ said Mr Biker.
1982		H. Beaton Outside In I ii: Shit on them. Why are they so vile?
1983		‘Heat Moon’ Blue Highways 314: The Jehovah’s Witnesses knock on the door and want to heal me. I tell them, ‘shit on this healing!’.
1997		Simon & Burns Corner (1998) 238: But shit on that, she tells herself; if Mike says he’s making the move, give him room.
2000		M. Collins Keepers of Truth 27: I say, shit on all that, Bill.

(orig. US) a general term of abuse.

1930		(con. 1918) J. Hanley German Prisoner 19: ‘Shit on you. Get forward [...] You bloody cowards’.
1934		H. Roth Call It Sleep (1977) 48: ‘Aa, shit on you,’ muttered Yussie sullenly.
1970		in P.R. Runkel Law Unto Themselves 25: Men often use the terms ‘shit on you’ and ‘piss on you’ as means of derogatory commentary.
2002		‘Touré’ Portable Promised Land (ms.) 158: We Words (My Favorite Things) [...] Slow your roll. Set it off. Shit on you.

an excl. of surprise.

2004		P. Howard Teenage Dirtbag Years 9: Shit the bed, [...] am I getting better looking every day?
2004		P. Howard PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids 205: shit the bed! I don’t believe it.