This post is not for the faint of heart. I read the book „Boomerang“ by Micheal Lewis. In this book the author claims that Germans are coprophilic, meaning they have some type of erotic relation to their excrement.
He bases this claim on the fact that the German language contains a lot of expressions related to feces.
This got me thinking a little. From the top of my head I could name at least ten idioms of the English language coming straight from the toilet bowl.
So what’s the story? Does Ms. Lews project his own coproercotic fantasies onto the Teutons? After all, they started World War II and whenever there is something that you don’t like about yourself, just blame it on ‚Ze Germans‘.
Whatever the story is, human excrement play an important role in the English language, as it does in so many others.
So the inclined reader doesn’t have to dive into the sewers. Just take a look at the following chart and take you pick:
| Shit: | No shit: |
|---|---|
| No shit?! | Do tell me. |
| To shit yourself. | To be scared. |
| To be a shit's creek. | To be in trouble. |
| A shitstorm. | A lot of people getting angry. |
| Cannot tell shit from shinola. | Doesn't know what's going on. |
| To be shitfaced. | To be drunk. |
| A shitload of... | Very much... |
| To be shit-canned. | To be fired. |
| A shithead. | An idiot. |
| To know your shit. | To be an expert. |
| Does the Pope shit in the woods. | Of course. |
| To have shit for brains. | To be stupid. |
| Not to give a shit | To be indifferent. |
| Get your shit together. | Get your act together. |
| Batshit crazy. | Totally crazy. |
| To go apeshit. | To go crazy. |
| It sucks ass. | It is not nice. |
| A shit-eating grin. | A gloating facial expression. |
| When shit hits the fan. | The worst case scenario. |
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