A - Z Database
American slang for a privy or toilet, particularly an outhouse, dates from the 19th century. See also built like a brick shit house.
Very little is left to the imagination in this rather vulgar expression meaning trouble in the form of an unholy mess. It seems to be of US origin fro...
see Never shit on one’s own doorstep
Stop procrastinating and get on with something is originally American and dates from the early 20th century sometimes expressed as the more alliterati...
Shit here is used as an intensifier to mean very or extremely scared and is originally an Americanism from the 1930s. See also shitless.
A person, who by his or her actions causes unnecessary trouble, dates from the late 19th century.
Shitface is a British slang expression for an ugly man (for obvious reasons) and dates from the late 19th century. From the 1930s, it became a milder,...
As in scared or bored shitless, meaning extremely scared or bored is US slang from the 1930s. See also shit scared.
As in, “Are you shitting me?” which means are you kidding me, US slang dates from c. 1930.
This expression is generally acknowledged as a sailor’s oath that expresses surprise or annoyance. Its most famous utterance was by actor Robert Newto...
Before this word acquired its meaning of sub-standard or inferior quality, it was the proper name of a cheap, recycled, fabric manufactured in the ear...
see Shoo-in
The shoe is on the other foot is a metaphor to describe when situations or circumstances between people have been reversed. The expression dates in th...
Metaphorically speaking, shoestring is a meagre amount of money or meagre resources, as in expressions like ‘on a shoestring, ‘shoestring budget’ etc,...
A shoo-in is a certain winner, an American expression that dates from the late 1920s and which originated from horseracing. It derives from 'shoo' the...