# Origin of the phrase “the shit has hit the fan” **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515 "2003-08-07T04:01:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/1 "2003-08-07T04:01:48Z")
I’ve wondered about this for sometime. Does anyone know how we wound up with the expression “the shit has hit the fan?” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/2 "2003-08-07T04:27:16Z")
I am not sure what the puzzle is. I have no idea who coined it, but I would think that it’s meaning was sufficiently clear. Throwing something soft, easily frangible, and sticky into a rapidly spinning object is going to cause the thrown substance to be splattered out in all directions. Since it is sticky, it will cling to anything it touches, making cleanup a real problem. Given that it is inherently repellent, it is going to be even more abhorent that it is splattered across the floor, walls, ceiling, furniture, and any person or animal unfortunate enough to be in the way. And, as long as the fan continues to spin, it is going to continue to make more of a mess, since some of it will continue sticking to the fan blades for quite a while. Neither the Word Maven nor the Word Detective happens to address it, yet. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/3 "2003-08-07T05:03:14Z")
> [@](#): > > From Eric Partridge, “A Dictionary of Catch Phrases American and British”: > Leechman says that it is ‘a catch phrase indicative of grave or exciting consequences’: Can. and U.S: since c. 1930. . . . Dr Leechman adds that ‘the allusion is to the consequences of throwing this material into an electric fan’. But the orig. ref., as Norman Franklin reminds me, 1976, is to the agricultural muck-spreader. . . . > Wentworth & Flexner [“A Dictionary of American Slang”] cite an anecdotal origin [remembered independently by Robert Claiborne, Prof. Anthony Brown, and Paul Beale, covering mid 1930s - mid '50s], which is perhaps valid: a guest, unable to find the w.c., uses a hole in the bathroom floor and on rejoining the party, is asked, ‘Where were you when the shit hit the fan?’ according to [Phrase Finder](http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/17/messages/683.html). ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/4 "2003-08-07T05:04:43Z")
**samclem** ’ll probably nail this with a direct quote from Edison or some such, however, Partridge’s “A Dictionary of Catch Phrases American and British” dates [the phrase](http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/17/messages/683.html) to ~1930. > [@](#): > > ‘a catch phrase indicative of grave or exciting consequences’ > … > ‘the allusion is to the consequences of throwing this material into an electric fan’. But the orig. ref., as Norman Franklin reminds me, 1976, is to the agricultural muck-spreader. . . . ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/5 "2003-08-07T05:13:11Z")
Sorry I wasn’t more clear, **Tomndebb** , I get the intended _meaning_ of the expression just fine. It’s the result (which you so nicely elaborated on), that’s alwaysmade me like the phrase, because it’s so apt. What I was wondering what was who had come up with it originally, or at least, when was it first brought into common usuage? (Sometime after the invention of fans, obviously). I should have made the OP a little more specific. [sub]Oh, and consequently, I’m from NE Ohio, myself…where abouts are you from, if you don’t mind my asking?[/sub?] ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/6 "2003-08-07T05:17:13Z")
Thanks for date, **Squink** and **don’t ask**. Much obliged. If anybody does have a (more) direct quote (or perhaps the area where it originated) that’d be great. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/7 "2003-08-07T05:17:41Z")
The link **Squink** just posted mentions the joke I believe started the whole thing. [sup]\*\*A man runs into a restaurant and frantically asks a waitor where the restrooms are. The waitor says “It is upstairs to your right.” The man runs up the stairs and enters the door on the left. There is nothing in the room, except a hole in the middle of the room. He is in no condition to question this arrangement for a restroom and does his business down the hole. Much relieved he walks down the stairs and the waitor yells to him. “Little old man so spic and span, where were you when the shit hit the fan?”\*\*[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/8 "2003-08-07T05:36:10Z")
> [@](#): > > But the orig. ref., as Norman Franklin reminds me, 1976, is to the agricultural muck-spreader. . . . I find this suspicious on two counts: muck spreaders date back to the nineteenth century, so why would it take until 1930 to pick up the expression(?) and I have never heard of a spreader referred to as a fan (either by my farming in-laws or by the farmer next to whom I lived for a couple of years\*). I think a reference to electric fans, that only became popular as the country was wired for electricity, rather more probable. \*(Spreaders _are_ impressive in their ability to throw shit, but they tend to have _some_ control over where it lands and, as I noted, I’ve never heard one called a fan.) **Orange** , I’m on the southern tier of Geauga County along U.S. 422. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/9 "2003-08-07T11:13:33Z")
HAH, I’m remembering the ‘shit’s-gonna-hit-the-fan’ scene in _Airplane_. Took me about and hour to recover from that one 😉 ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/10 "2003-08-07T11:14:59Z")
…about **an** hour… ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/11 "2003-08-07T12:50:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > \*\*I am not sure what the puzzle is. > I have no idea who coined it, but I would think that it’s meaning was sufficiently clear. Throwing something soft, easily frangible, and sticky into a rapidly spinning object is going to cause the thrown substance to be splattered out in all directions. Since it is sticky, it will cling to anything it touches, making cleanup a real problem. Given that it is inherently repellent, it is going to be even more abhorent that it is splattered across the floor, walls, ceiling, furniture, and any person or animal unfortunate enough to be in the way. > > \*\* I always thought it was a daft expression myself. When the shit hits the fan, obviously it showers everything nearby with shit. However, the expression is when the shit **HITS** the fan, not when the shit is thrown at the fan. If you waiting for the shit to hit the fan, then that suggests that other shit has been thrown at the fan, but so far it has kept missing. If your in the fans shit spreading radius, then chances are you’re already covered in shit, from all the shit that nearly hit the fan, but missed. The entire area is probably covered in turds. The shit that comes from the fan is probably irrelevant compared to all the other shit lying around. If Tom Cruise got attacked by a stalker, would this be a case of the fan hitting the 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:** [August 7, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/12 "2003-08-07T13:06:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bakhesh \* > **I always thought it was a daft expression myself. When the shit hits the fan, obviously it showers everything nearby with shit. However, the expression is when the shit HITS the fan, not when the shit is thrown at the fan. If you waiting for the shit to hit the fan, then that suggests that other shit has been thrown at the fan, but so far it has kept missing.** :rolleyes: When the shit it’s the fan, it’s immediately thrown. Only the most anal would bother to think there was a difference. And where does it say that an metaphor has to be 100% precise? Does no one understand the concept of “metaphor” any more? ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/13 "2003-08-07T13:13:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*:rolleyes: When the shit it’s the fan, it’s immediately thrown. Only the most anal would bother to think there was a difference. > > And where does it say that an metaphor has to be 100% precise? Does no one understand the concept of “metaphor” any more? \*\* Some people have no sense of humour :smack: ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/14 "2003-08-08T07:20:41Z")
The third and fourth volumes of “Historical Dictionary of American Slang” WILL be published over the next few years. So, we’ll just have to wait on that one. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/15 "2003-08-08T14:25:58Z")
That which hits the fan is seldom evenly distributed. I forget who wrote that; twasn’t I. ---
**Author:** ![Lou\_Chandon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Lou\_Chandon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lou_Chandon)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/16 "2012-01-04T02:28:23Z")
> [@Orange\_Skinner](#): > > I’ve wondered about this for sometime. Does anyone know how we wound up with the expression “the shit has hit the fan?” Yes: it’s a word twist on “the fit hit the shan”. It seems fellow was charged with watching over a shan who was subject to fits of a sort. So this little man was with the shan one evening at a gala ball & had the call of nature, so to speak. When he finally found a place to do his business he was quite desperate & let 'er rip into a fan that delivered his excrement onto the ball room floor. Everyone was covered in the dreadful elimination, except the little man who was dressed in his usual white suit. The poor shan had an attack of fitfull proportions, as did several other gala attendees. So when the little man appeared in such a neat and white suit it raised the question from the shan’s first assistant to ask the little man: “Little man, so spic and span: where were you when the fit hit the shan"After many years of re-telling the phrase was more succinctly put as” Where were you when the shit hit the fan" or simply to describe the scene of the fit hitting the shan. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/17 "2012-01-04T02:50:01Z")
Reginald Bretnor used to write these elaborate puns in the forms of short-short stories featuring a character named Ferdinand Feghoot. They were so popular that the term [Feghoot](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Feghoot) is applied to the genre. > [@](#): > > Roger Zelazny liked to sneak these into his works. For example, the entire second chapter of his Hugo-winning novel, Lord of Light is an elaborate setup allowing him to finish with the final line “Then the fit hit the Shan.” That was in 1967. Some of us remember 1967. Some of us also have [The Compleat Feghoot](http://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Feghoot-Historys-Greatest-Traveller/dp/0883580195/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325645099&sr=1-5z). You’re a dollar late and a day short. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/18 "2012-01-04T03:04:30Z")
The hippopotamus was doing it millions of years before the expression, [by defecating into its spinning tail.](http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/why-does-the-hippopotamus-fling-its-poop-everywhere-and-how-much-poop-does-it-produce-in-a-day) Perhaps one was seen by a mammal, later a primate, later us. Now that’s cultural memory. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/19 "2012-01-04T04:46:51Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > …the expression is when the shit **HITS** the fan… Yes, “hits” as in “arrives at.” How it comes to arrive is not specified. Forgive me for saying you’re thinking about this way, _ **WAY** _ too hard. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515/20 "2012-01-04T08:46:45Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Reginald Bretnor used to write these elaborate puns in the forms of short-short stories featuring a character named Ferdinand Feghoot. They were so popular that the term [Feghoot](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Feghoot) is applied to the genre. These long-winded stories, culminating in some atrocious pun based on a well-known expression, are also commonly known as _shaggy dog stories_ after the old one that ends “I wouldn’t send a knight out on a dog like this.” You can find a compendium of them at [http://www.badpuns.com/](http://www.badpuns.com/) – Just find the link “Shaggy dog stories” and go there. On the old Candid Camera show, Allen Funt used to tell these from time to time. The comic book “Asterix in Switzerland” begins with a highly contrived one too, that occupies the first 3 or 4 pages of the book. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-the-shit-has-hit-the-fan/193515.md?page=2)