# Etymology of 'dipshit' **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762 "2011-01-07T18:00:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/1 "2011-01-07T18:00:14Z")
This [site](http://www.drbilllong.com/CurrentEventsIX/Dipshit.html) claims that the word came into usage in the 1960s. If it did, it caught on fast. I recall it in common usage among kids by 1965. Also, is there a name for this kind of word that has something of the sense of onomatopoeia, but is not referring to a sound? It just seems to me to be a very good description of someone or thing even if you didn’t know it’s meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/2 "2011-01-07T18:07:35Z")
Hard to believe people hadn’t been dipping shit since time immemorial. Especially when there were still so many outdoor facilities. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/3 "2011-01-07T18:16:43Z")
I would have guessed that it morphed from “dumbshit.” ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/4 "2011-01-07T18:19:16Z")
rapidly was upped to ‘double dipped’ ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/5 "2011-01-07T18:24:20Z")
> [@DrumBum](#): > > I would have guessed that it morphed from “dumbshit.” I assumed it came by similarity to dipstick, which is also slang for a stupid person. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/6 "2011-01-07T18:44:32Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I assumed it came by similarity to dipstick, which is also slang for a stupid person. And I always thought dipstick was an attempt to suggest dipshit without saying shit. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/7 "2011-01-07T18:49:35Z")
According to the OED: > [@OED](#): > > Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈdɪpʃɪt/ , U.S. /ˈdɪpˌʃɪt/ > Etymology: Probably \< dip n.3 + shit n. and adj. Compare slightly later dipstick n. (a) at dip n.1 Additions.(Show Less) > coarse slang (orig. U.S.). Further research indicates: > [@OED](#): > > dip, n.3 > Etymology: Back-formation \< dippy adj. > U.S. slang. > > A stupid, unremarkable, or contemptible person. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/8 "2011-01-07T18:50:39Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > And I always thought dipstick was an attempt to suggest dipshit without saying shit. Nah, a dipstick is a stick that you dip into things. The most common variety probably being for checking your oil at the gas station. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/9 "2011-01-08T03:21:24Z")
There was a recent thread in which someone showed the result when Google Ngram was applied to the phrase “the whole nine yards.” I decided try it for “dumbshit” and “dipshit.” I didn’t bother with “dipstick,” since that has another meaning that isn’t relevant and which probably accounts for most of the uses of the word. Here’s the results: [http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=dumbshit&year\_start=1900&year\_end=2010&corpus=0&smoothing=3](http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=dumbshit&year_start=1900&year_end=2010&corpus=0&smoothing=3) [http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=dipshit&year\_start=1900&year\_end=2008&corpus=0&smoothing=3](http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=dipshit&year_start=1900&year_end=2008&corpus=0&smoothing=3) As you can see, it appears that “dumbshit” first was recorded in print in about 1958 and “dipshit” in about 1963. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/10 "2011-01-08T03:49:21Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Nah, a dipstick is a stick that you dip into things. The most common variety probably being for checking your oil at the gas station. True, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t used as a euphemism, something the OED confirms. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/11 "2011-01-08T04:43:12Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > There was a recent thread in which someone showed the result when Google Ngram was applied to the phrase “the whole nine yards.” I decided try it for “dumbshit” and “dipshit.” I didn’t bother with “dipstick,” since that has another meaning that isn’t relevant and which probably accounts for most of the uses of the word. Here’s the results: > > [http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=dumbshit&year\_start=1900&year\_end=2010&corpus=0&smoothing=3](http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=dumbshit&year_start=1900&year_end=2010&corpus=0&smoothing=3) > > [http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=dipshit&year\_start=1900&year\_end=2008&corpus=0&smoothing=3](http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=dipshit&year_start=1900&year_end=2008&corpus=0&smoothing=3) > > As you can see, it appears that “dumbshit” first was recorded in print in about 1958 and “dipshit” in about 1963. Thanks. It really does take off in the 60s. Seems like such a good word, I’m surprised it wasn’t around longer. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/12 "2011-01-08T09:56:18Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > True, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t used as a euphemism, something the OED confirms. “Dipstick” was commonly used by Del Boy (to describe his brother Rodney) in the BBC series _Only Fools and Horses_ in the 1980s. See also “plonker”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/13 "2011-01-08T16:21:07Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > And I always thought dipstick was an attempt to suggest dipshit without saying shit. Terminator 2 has a hilarious scene in the “Safe for Network TV” cut where Ed Furlong has the obscene version substituted out for the “mild” one. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/14 "2011-01-09T20:39:33Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > As you can see, it appears that “dumbshit” first was recorded in print in about 1958 and “dipshit” in about 1963. What is the source of the apparent usage in 1900 for the “dumbshit” search ? Bad data perhaps ? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/15 "2011-01-10T01:21:45Z")
I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/16 "2011-01-10T04:36:42Z")
When I was an adolescent in the Baltimore, it was a source of never-ending fun that the name Dikshit was in the phone book. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-dipshit/566762/17 "2011-01-10T04:43:06Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > When I was an adolescent in the Baltimore, it was a source of never-ending fun that the name Dikshit was in the phone book. What a dipshit for not getting an unlisted number.