Is "your s-h-i-t" a dumb phrase

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Am I the only person who thinks using "S-h-i-t" as a noun for other things besides fecal matter or garbage is stupid? I hear the phrase: "I need to "get my s-h-i-t put away before the landlord comes" when not even referring to garbage or feces for that matter. Or my other favorite is " I need to get my s-h-i-t together. When talking about organizing etc.

Yes, I think it sounds very vulgar and stupid. I'm glad I'm not the only one. But I hate it no matter how it's used because it's a swear word and to me it's not mild and it ranks up there with the f-word. I get it though. Most adults, especially guys, don't want to say poop or poo because it's childish, and feces is supposedly restricted to doctors.

But using it in place of something generic makes the person sound a lot more childish and immature. "Today at lunch we had burgers and fries and s***". Well now, that literal picture in my mind sure does make *my* mouth water!

And then there's using it in place of words that rhyme with it in commonly used phrases such as "Are you kidding me?" or "I kid you not!" I guess if you use the word "kid", soon people will look at you like you just suddenly spoke a strange alien language. Ugh...

Its not the vulgarity, but the fact nobody seems to want to use proper nouns. I mean seriously how hard is it to say "stuff" if it is not referring to garbarge. I say it sometimes but only referring to garbage which is in the same category as feces in my opinion.

I think many men use such words to make themselves sound more masculine or something. Some people seem to think that using proper words instead of shít or fùck sounds too uncool or something around their peers. It sounds stupid to me.

I'm not even capable of using such words because if I do, it sounds forced, unnatural and ridiculous.

I don't know about stupid, but not the most articulate way of putting it I suppose, I also cannot say I've never used that phrase myself.

I don't get the concept of 'swear words' I think that idea is stupid to be honest...especially given the history of why swear words became swear words. I mean what really makes a word 'bad' I don't see how a word itself can be bad...I can see people using words to say things that aren't nice...I do not think a lack of swear words when being 'mean' is really any better than being mean with them...either way the intention is the same.

I can switch it up at will...If I am going to talk to my grandmother its quite easy for me to articulate everything without swearing for instance, but if around people who don't care then I don't concern myself with that. And generally speaking I use Colorado slang which consists of no real defined accent and its certainly not proper british english...Of course my moms boyfriend from Chicago always corrects people here for 'not talking right' or not pronouncing things the way he does....For instance take the word Syrup, well in this state it sounds more like surup...not syyyrup, and he will complain about things like that which makes him look like a jerk and then he doesn't even realize everyone's looking at him in a way that would make most people embarrassed.

I mean that would be like if I went up to Minnesota and criticized people for talking differently than they do here.

I am not against swearing if necessary to express an angry emotion more effectively, if the situation calls for it- a Car accident, or another expensive mistake. But to use a swear word ,as a generic catch a all everything in and anything in casual conversation is not proper. The word's power can be rendered null and meaningless if used to often for too many things.

"The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.'
Alice was too much puzzled to say anything; so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. 'They've a temper, some of them... Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland

Last edited by Mitrovah on 17 Mar 2015, 11:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

I tried to get my sh*t together, once. But then I realized I didn't really need a big pile of sh*t.

But is s**t really more offensive than poop or feces? s**t is the original word, it has cognates in several related Germanic languages as well (schijt in Dutch, Scheisse in German)

What about the word being used in the context:

Tom: My favorite band is playing a concert right down the road.
Anthony: Holy s**t, dude!

Or if somebody got a rip in their brand new shirt and they screamed:

"s**t!! ! s**t!! !!"

Or if a girl finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her:

Alex: I'm leaving you for her.
Emily: I'm so sick of your s**t, Alex!! !

Those, in my opinion, can be appropriate time to use the word. What else are people gonna say when it comes to you're favorite band playing a concert down the road?

Tom: My favorite band is playing a show down the road from me.
Anthony: Golly, that's awesome!

Somebody rips their shirt and screams:

"Oh dear!! !" like their Piglet from Winnie the Pooh.

Or when a guy cheats on his girl:

Alex: I'm leaving you for her.
Emily: I'm so tired of your baloney, Alex.

Now, if little kids were saying this, it would be a problem, but adults don't usually say "baloney" unless they're at the grocery store or work in a deli.

Sorry for all of the expletives btw.

Last edited by xxZeromancerlovexx on 17 Mar 2015, 3:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

My point is that using S-h-i-t as a catch all phrase for everything and anything is problematic and improper. The examples I have heard in real life such as : "yeah they sell vegan food and s**t, I need to get some s**t done today, "I get my s**t togehter". S-h-i-t in my opinion needs to stay in the realm of vulgarity instead of being a catch all phrase for everything, that is the point I am trying to make.

It is arbitrary. Every culture has their own taboo words. In Dutch s**t is not that offensive at all, people swear with diseases and those are the most offensive words, not body parts or bodily functions.

But the words that are considered offensive are arbitrary, they vary from culture to culture. And in the English language you can do some strange things because of its grammar, you could use "piece of s**t" in a sentence as a noun or as an adjective, or even combine them: a piece of s**t piece of s**t.

I use it like that a lot & it's not a big deal to me. I find offensive stuff funny & don't take things too personally.

I enjoy South Park and it's vulgarity as well, but the POINT which everyone seems to be missing, which the video ^^ demonstrates it the fact the word is a VULGAR term, not a catch all noun to describe the contents of my kitchen draws or the STUFF in a grocery aisle Jeez.