That’s made me think of another one, possibly.
‘Bitching about someone.’ As in, complaining about someone else who isn’t present.
I usually think of it as doing it to someone’s face. If two people are about to get in a fight, they will talk shit. The intent is to demean and probably intimidate a little. The shit-talking is usually exaggerated bravado. This type of language is not meant to be taken literally except as an implicit threat, although often the shit-talking is just shit-talking, and could be an attempt to save face when you actually have no intention of getting violent with someone. People who are outmatched often talk shit.
Which is why I think it’s referred to as “shit.”
I have no idea if it’s regional. I’m from Michigan and I’m willing to bet anyone from Michigan would know what it meant.
In the US, it could be that context, or it could also be complaining about anything. Can bitching about something generally be referred to as complaining about anything in the UK? Or does it have to be about another person?
Yeah, more or less synonymous with ‘talking bollocks’
It’s a common idiom for me. I hear it more in the “talking shit behind one’s back” sense than the “saying it to someone’s face” sense, but both are quite common. I’m not aware of it being particularly regional, but in case it’s relevant, I’m Chicago.
Talking trash or Running your mouth is heard around here.
Talking shit is commonly known, in playgrounds and bars. You know the upscale places 
.
Talking shit, but also jawing at someone, chirping them, or giving them chin music. Although around here talking shit can have two different meanings; talking shit to or at someone means you’re insulting them in a more aggressive way that might lead to a fight; talking shit with someone means it’s playful banter, between friends. All the other terms I mentioned are closer to the first meaning.
Hmm, having thought about it, I think it could be used more generally. You might ‘bitch about’ a task that you hate doing, for example. So maybe it’s not the best equivalent.
I like “rapping crap”. I do not like wrapping crap, however.
I would actually say “having a go”. As in “Are you having a go at me?” or “He was having a go at me”.
I’m probably showing my age as well as my location (melb.aus)
‘Having a go’ sounds right for British English too. I would say there’s a distinction between that and ‘slagging off’ as follows:-
Having a go at someone: directly to the person
Slagging someone off: much more likely to be to a third party, i.e. behind the subject’s back.
I think that “taking the piss” is similar to “”giving someone shit.”
IMHO, giving someone shit can be playful teasing, while talking shit is more overtly hostile.
I love English.
Or “busting balls”.
I’ve never heard that used in this context.
Interesting. The exact same thing in Swedish is “prata strunt.” At times the West Germanic languages seem further apart from their northern cousins, at other times, such as this, they seem to be dialects and not separate languages.
Yes, in UK parlance. In fact it might mean either a direct insult or challenge, almost certainly leading to a physical confrontation. By that time if I saw it I’d be “Three steps towards the door”, of course…
A good old football song which seems to have died out these days:-
“Come n 'ave a go if you think you’re 'ard enough!!”
Also “starting” which is roughly equivalent to talking smack. As in “are you startin’?”
I haven’t heard that in UK parlance (but of course a weary “Don’t start…” isn’t uncommon)
‘Starting on someone’ was a thing back in the 90s when I was at school.