shit English · revision 2035

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English (noun scitte), c. 1308 (verb)|origins=gem-pro *skīt-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʃɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|enm|shiten]], [[inh|ang|*scītan]], recorded in Old English only in [[m|ang|bescītan|t=to cover with excrement]],^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2000)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*skīt-]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) Its cognates are [[gml|schīten]], [[nl|schijten]], [[goh|scīzan]] (modern [[de|scheißen]]) and [[non|skíta]].^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(RHWU) Etymonline and Watkins derive it from [[ine-pro|*skei-|t=to cut, split]], the idea being separation from the body,^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) and Merriam-Webster connects it with Old English [[m|ang|scēadan|t=to separate]], the source of [[shed]].^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024) The modern form with short ''i'' replaced earlier [[shite]], taking its vowel from the past participle [[m|enm|shitten]] or from the noun.^(Hoad 1986)^(RHWU)^(MWU 2024) The noun is [[inh|ang|scitte|t=diarrhoea]],^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(COED 2004) related to [[dum|schitte|t=excrement]].^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English ''scitte'' meant “diarrhoea”, a sense the noun kept in Middle English.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The verb “to defecate” is first quoted about 1308.^(GDoS)^(Dalzell 2013)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The general sense “excrement” dates from the 1580s;^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) Old English used ''scytel'' for dung, and in the 14th century the usual words were [[turd]] or ''filth''.^(Etymonline) The word was originally neutral,^(NODE 1998) and Green's Dictionary of Slang treats it as standard English from the 14th to the late 17th century and slang thereafter,^(GDoS) while the New Partridge has it slipping into vulgarity in the 19th century.^(Dalzell 2013) According to Etymonline it was taboo from about 1600 and rarely printed: neither Shakespeare nor the King James Bible has it, late 18th-century texts disguise it with dashes, and censors objected to it as late as 1922.^(Etymonline) A contemptible person has been called a ''shit'' since 1508.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) “Nonsense” is from 1924 and “something worthless” from 1925,^(HTOED) and the adjective “bad, inferior” is quoted from 1925 in a letter of Hemingway's.^(GDoS) The sense “trouble, misfortune” is dated 1929 by the HTOED^(HTOED) and 1937 by Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The verb “to lie, to tease” is from 1934,^(Etymonline)^(Dalzell 2013) the noun “heroin” from 1950,^(Dalzell 2013) and the exclamation is in print by 1920.^(Etymonline) The past tense ''shat'' is a humorous, unetymological form first recorded in the 18th century.^(Etymonline) Phrases include ''up shit creek'' (1868), ''not give a shit'' (1922), ''shit list'' (1942) and ''when the shit hits the fan'' (1967).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – ''scitte'', diarrhoea.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+ * c. 1308 – verb, to defecate.^(GDoS)^(Dalzell 2013)

+ * 1508 – a contemptible person.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED)

+ * 1580s – excrement in general.^(Etymonline)

+ * 18th century – ''shat'', humorous past tense.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1868 – ''up shit creek''.^(Etymonline)

+ * by 1920 – exclamation.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1924 – nonsense.^(HTOED)

+ * 1925 – adjective, bad, worthless.^(GDoS)

+ * 1934 – verb, to lie or tease.^(Etymonline)^(Dalzell 2013)

+ * 1942 – ''shit list''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1950 – heroin.^(Dalzell 2013)

+ * 1967 – ''when the shit hits the fan''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' [[excrement|alt=Excrement]]; an act of defecating.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(the shits)'' [[diarrhoea|alt=Diarrhoea]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Something worthless or disgusting; [[nonsense]].^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # A mean or contemptible person.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A [[narcotic]], especially [[heroin]].^(AHD)^(Dalzell 2013)

+ # Things, stuff; one's belongings.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # Trouble or difficulty.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' To [[defecate]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To tease or try to deceive.^(AHD)^(Dalzell 2013)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' Bad, inferior or worthless.^(GDoS)^(Dalzell 2013)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' Expressing anger, surprise or annoyance.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[shitty]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[shite]]

+ * [[shed]]

+ * [[science]]

+ * [[conscience]]

+ * [[sharn]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The Shorter Oxford labels the word coarse slang.^(SOED 2002) Its past tense is ''shitted'', ''shit'' or ''shat'';^(SOED 2002) the Cambridge pronouncing dictionary notes that ''shat'' is rare in American English, where the usual past tense is ''shit''.^(Roach et al. 2011) Etymonline stresses that the word is not an acronym.^(Etymonline) In Scots ''shit'' was also a contemptuous name for a small, puny person or animal, and the form ''shite'', with the adjective ''shitten'' “paltry, mean”, was used from Scotland and Westmorland to Somerset and Devon.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}