# "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:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/21 "2014-03-20T04:15:07Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > 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. I think the awkwardness of the phrase is supposed to add to the humour, like Liz Lemon saying [“I want to go to there”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cph2QjATgeo). ---
**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 20, 2014, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/22 "2014-03-20T04:29:48Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I think the awkwardness of the phrase is supposed to add to the humour Well, that may be a very good point. Was _the awkwardness of the phrase_ the intent of the writer/director??? I saw Ted in the theater and the moment I heard the line I thought it was strange. When Mark Wahlberg came in and repeated “is that a shit” I heard someone behind me say “ **a** shit?”, confirming that I wasn’t the only person to find the line odd. Is it possible that the wordage of the line was intentionally unusual to focus humor of the situation and/or to engage the audiences attention? ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/23 "2014-03-20T04:51:48Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > 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 you certainly can ask for “a water”, as well as of course “a beer”, and even “a ketchup”. If it’s a standard and familiar serving or container-full, then we eventually skip the “container of…” and refer to the serving as a singular noun. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/24 "2014-03-20T05:50:12Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > The idiom itself is a misnomer. You don’t take a shit – you _leave_ a shit. > > (Apologies to George Carlin) Personally, I don’t give a shit. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100/25 "2014-03-20T07:23:23Z")
“A shit” instead of just “shit”. Is this common usage? This question has profound implications. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-shit-instead-of-just-shit-is-this-common-usage/684100.md?page=1)