# "A shit" instead of just "shit". Is this common usage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100 "2014-03-19T18:24:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/1 "2014-03-19T18:24:45Z")
In the movie [Ted](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637725/) when John and Lori come home and find a turd on the floor, they say “is that a shit”. I found that odd. Around here someone would say “is that shit” not “is that **a** shit”. In parts of the U.S. is it common to refer to a turd as “ **a** shit” rather than just “shit”. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/2 "2014-03-19T18:46:56Z")
Not in my experience, at least not when referring to a turd. “Shit” is an unmeasured quantity: “That’s a lot of shit.” “What shit!” “A shit” is either the act of sitting on the can and taking a dump, or something worthless. “He’s taking a shit.” “I don’t give a shit.” One turd in the middle of the floor would be a turd, or a piece of shit, or just shit, but not “a shit.” ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/3 "2014-03-19T19:49:12Z")
Ditto. It’s like walking into the kitchen and smelling something, and asking “Is that fish?” or “Is that a fish?” ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/4 "2014-03-19T19:57:09Z")
The only way it makes sense is if they were trying to convey “Are we looking at the results of someone taking a shit?” But that’s a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/5 "2014-03-19T20:02:10Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > “Are we looking at the results of someone taking a shit?” The idiom itself is a misnomer. You don’t take a shit – you _leave_ a shit. (Apologies to George Carlin) ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/6 "2014-03-19T20:08:19Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > The only way it makes sense is if they were trying to convey “Are we looking at the results of someone taking a shit?” > > But that’s a stretch. It’s only a stretch if the person taking a shit was constipated. Yes ‘is that a shit’, means is that the result of someone taking a dump. Specifically the result of a single dump, traceable to a single act of defecation. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/7 "2014-03-19T20:22:58Z")
In my neck of the woods it’s not uncommon to refer to a person as “a shit” but much less so to refer to a turd that way. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/8 "2014-03-19T20:45:46Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > The idiom itself is a misnomer. You don’t take a shit – you _leave_ a shit. > > (Apologies to George Carlin) In that context “shit” is a verb, used similarly to the word “nap”. You “take” a nap, do you not? You don’t _leave_ a nap. Also, you _take_ a meeting. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/9 "2014-03-19T21:12:34Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > In parts of the U.S. is it common to refer to a turd as “ **a** shit” rather than just “shit”. No, not common. I’ve never heard it that way. It’s usially either a turd, or some shit. A _person_ can be _ **a** _ shit, or _ **the** _ shit. The first usage means a bad thing, the second good. A _thing_ can be _ **the** _ shits. Always plural. That’s a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/10 "2014-03-19T21:36:37Z")
I think there’s a difference in sense between _shit_ and _a shit_. The latter is, like, “Is that a shit? Did somebody take a shit on our floor?”, the former, “Is that shit? Did somebody leave shit on our floor?” In other words the act of actually taking a dump is implicit in _a shit_. _Shit_ does not imply how the shit got there, it could have been brought in by hand, trailed in on a boot, whatever. That’s my take anyway. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/11 "2014-03-19T22:14:17Z")
How many sugars would you like with that shit? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/12 "2014-03-19T23:38:23Z")
So…? Do we agree that the line should be “Is that shit?” “There is shit on my floor!” instead of “Is that **a** shit?” “there is **a** shit on my floor!”. Does everyone find the line as read kind of odd in American English dialect as I do? [HERE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqh_MFSc7L4) is the scene. (Possibly NSFW! And may offend.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/13 "2014-03-20T00:21:34Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > So…? Do we agree that the line should be “Is that shit?” “There is shit on my floor!” instead of “Is that **a** shit?” “there is **a** shit on my floor!”. Well, maybe not. In this very specific case I’d say it’s correct either way. There is shit on his floor BECAUSE SOMEONE [took] a shit on his floor. It’s the missing “took” that throws the delivery off. What tilts it towards being correct is not that there is fecal matter on his floor somehow (from someone’s shoe, being flung there, etc.) but because someone [took a] shit there. The English, she is so subtle. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/14 "2014-03-20T00:28:01Z")
I’m not American, but “a shit” doesn’t sound odd to me. It’s one of those things where you know it when you see it. An amorphous blob of crap might be “shit”, but a nice, distinct turd might be “a shit”. Personally, I quite like the variety and extra description of “a shit”. You hear “a shit” instead of “shit” and you know you’ve ruled out a smear, for example, or even metaphorical shit. If it _is_ slightly odd, so much the better, much like the phrase “What the shit?” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/15 "2014-03-20T00:29:14Z")
Linguistically, is this called “Container for the thing contained?” (Thurber fans may recognize this as a plot point…) i.e., you don’t ask for “a water” but “a glass of water.” With feces, it might be “a lump of s…” or “a piece of s…” but rarely, “a s…” But I’ve heard it that way upon occasion. One bloke once came running up with his hands held apart to indicate distance, and announced, "I just dropped a s… that big! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/16 "2014-03-20T00:36:04Z")
Put into a slightly different context, suppose a friend or acquaintance comes running into your room shouting, “There’s a shit on the front porch!” Would you expect to find on your front porch: 1. a despicable person 2. a Jehovah’s Witness 3. a turd 4. a midget 5. a person of the opposing political party 6. an alien 7. what then? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/17 "2014-03-20T00:41:57Z")
shit is a turd. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/18 "2014-03-20T00:49:56Z")
Mila Kunis, the lead actress in _ **Ted** _, is Ukrainian and moved to the US when she was seven years old. Since, according to her, she learned English here it’s possible that she would still use terms like “a shit” as English isn’t her first language. That may be where the writers got it from and they liked how it sounded. If you watch some early episodes of _ **That 70’s Show** _, she does stumble over some words and occasionally her accent comes through. Since then she has apparently taken diction class and now while you never hear her speak in lengthy sentences of monologues in films, her English is unaccented. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/19 "2014-03-20T01:09:02Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > In the movie [Ted](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637725/) when John and Lori come home and find a turd on the floor, they say “is that a shit”. I found that odd. Around here someone would say “is that shit” not “is that **a** shit”. > > In parts of the U.S. is it common to refer to a turd as “ **a** shit” rather than just “shit”. IMO, this is a very important question that deserves to be fully explored and explained and I will get right on that just as soon as I finish taking a shit. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/20 "2014-03-20T01:34:11Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Ditto. It’s like walking into the kitchen and smelling something, and asking “Is that fish?” or “Is that a fish?” But the shit is not cooking on the stove - it’s lying on the floor in an apparently BM-sized amount. If you saw something that looked like a fish on your floor you would ask, “Is that a fish?” not “Is that fish?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100.md?page=2)