# Past tense of the verb "to shit?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879 "2005-02-07T22:02:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/21 "2005-02-08T07:07:46Z")
I don’t know how you got that idea, **EvanS**. Language is what people use to communicate, and words are the pieces of language. If people say “shit” to communicate the substance which exits the nether end of the digestive tract, or the act of expelling such matter, then “shit” is a word and is part of the language. “To defecate” is certainly one true verb to describe said function, but I would question the definite article, there. There are very few concepts for which there is only one single true English word. Other true verbs for that act include “to poop”, “to crap”, and “to dump” (though admittedly that last one has other, non-scatalogical meanings), as well as a bewildering array of idioms. And why the comment about bathroom humor? So far as I can tell, nobody in this thread is treating the subject humorously. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/22 "2005-02-08T09:05:03Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > What’s wrong with “took a shit”? I agree. I’ve never heard the word shit used as a verb without “take”. One does not “shit”, one “takes a shit”. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/23 "2005-02-08T09:13:30Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > I agree. I’ve never heard the word shit used as a verb without “take”. One does not “shit”, one “takes a shit”. In Albert’s review of Filbert’s work, he shit on it. Would that usage not be as a verb? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/24 "2005-02-08T10:45:49Z")
> [@EvanS](#): > > Usta be that for a word to be accepted into standard usage it was proposed to committee and inspected and voted upon, etc. Not in fact the case. No such committee has ever existed, as far as I know, within the English-speaking world. > [@](#): > > When and where I grew up “shit” was not even a word, but a vulgar colloquialism. A colloquialism, however vulgar the fashions of a particular time and place may consider it, is still a word. > [@](#): > > Until recently there was officially no such verb, “to shit.” The OED has the verb form recorded as early as 1308. Not terribly recent. > [@](#): > > The true verb to describe the elimination function referenced was “to defecate,” and the past tense was ‘defecated.’ By “true verb”, do you perhaps mean “prissy euphemism”? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/25 "2005-02-08T10:53:52Z")
It’s probably worth mentioning that ‘shite’ is mock-polite - you wouldn’t say ‘shit’ in front of the Duchess of Argyll, but ‘shite’ would be fine\* \*[sup](Actually, this is not true)[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/26 "2005-02-08T11:08:00Z")
Shat in my part of England, too. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/27 "2005-02-08T11:42:01Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > I wonder how William Shatner feels about this. Well maybe if he took one every now and then, he wouldnt have to pause and clench like he does on those old Star Trek eps. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/28 "2005-02-08T12:54:46Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > Strangely, I would say: > “The dog shit on the floor this morning.” > but, > “We didn’t talk about anything important. We just bullshat.” I’ve always said “We just bullshitted.” But I agree on the first one. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/29 "2005-02-08T12:57:50Z")
The great writer for National Lampoon, Chris Miller, used the word “shat” in his stories. That’s good enough for me 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/30 "2005-02-08T14:32:02Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Discussed this today with the English Dept. where I teach, no definitive answer. > Is it “shat?” ex. The dog shat on the rug this morning. > Is it “shitted?” ex. The ferret shitted under the entertainment center this morning. > Is it “shit?” ex. The baby shit in his pants this morning. WAG Shot? shit, shat, shot 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/31 "2005-02-08T16:33:51Z")
If any conclusion can be drawn from the rhyming verb “spit”, my Cassell’s German-English Dictionary said that the standard tense forms of the word were spit–spat–spat, or spit–spit\*–spit\* \*(Archaic or American). Which seems to jibe with what I’ve always heard in America, where “shat” seems to be rare. Is “shitted” ever correct? Perhaps in transitive formations? Such as, “The baby shitted his pants”; but not for intransitive ones like “The ferret shit under the porch.”? I can think of one other verb, “hang”, which is regular in the transitive construction referring to execution by hanging, but irregular in all other senses. ---
**Author:** ![EvanS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@EvanS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvanS)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/32 "2005-02-09T00:45:54Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > Strangely, I would say: > “The dog shit on the floor this morning.” > but, > “We didn’t talk about anything important. We just bullshat.” We were just bullshitting. ---
**Author:** ![EvanS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@EvanS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvanS)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/33 "2005-02-09T00:54:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t know how you got that idea, **EvanS**. Language is what people use to communicate, and words are the pieces of language. If people say “shit” to communicate the substance which exits the nether end of the digestive tract, or the act of expelling such matter, then “shit” is a word and is part of the language. > > “To defecate” is certainly one true verb to describe said function, but I would question the definite article, there. There are very few concepts for which there is only one single true English word. Other true verbs for that act include “to poop”, “to crap”, and “to dump” (though admittedly that last one has other, non-scatalogical meanings), as well as a bewildering array of idioms. > > And why the comment about bathroom humor? So far as I can tell, nobody in this thread is treating the subject humorously. Guess I’m a lot older than you Chronos, and steeped in “proper English Usage” of my time, though I have personally overcome it, I would be lax not to fill TTM in on the historical perspective. Often what IS, and what people believe there IS, are different (the French may be excepted in this, with their language college). And why not the comment on bathroom humor? Perhaps you’re jaded… William Shatner? It’s boring to those of us who have grown up. ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/34 "2005-02-09T01:21:12Z")
OED says shit, shat, shitted ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/35 "2005-02-09T01:49:06Z")
> [@EvanS](#): > > Guess I’m a lot older than you Chronos, and steeped in “proper English Usage” of my time, though I have personally overcome it, I would be lax not to fill TTM in on the historical perspective. Regardless of how old you are, there’s never been an academy of English like there is an academy of French. There’s no group that dictates proper English usage or orthography and there never has been. > [@](#): > > Often what IS, and what people believe there IS, are different (the French may be excepted in this, with their language college). Language is defined by how words are actually used, regardless of what anyone dictates to be the proper usage. There was once a school of thought that said linguistic scholars should be prescriptive instead of descriptive, and dictionaries and grammar books once reflected that, but it was a mistaken notion that is now quite antiquated. The historical perspective is that in prior times, usage was different and didn’t change as rapidly as it does now. It did change, of course, but not due to what people thousands of miles away had just started saying. There was a lot more local variation because of this: People travelled less, so regionalisms could persist longer and become more strange to outsiders. The German populations of Pennsylvania were able to speak German locally in some isolated regions of the state well up into the 1940s. (If taken to a limit, those `regionalisms’ branch off into dialects and then languages. The dividing line between the three states (regional variation, local dialect, and language) is blurry and often political.) ---
**Author:** ![Augie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@Augie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Augie)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/36 "2005-02-09T02:29:02Z")
Why is it easier to take a shit than to give a shit in our selfish, apathetic society? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/37 "2005-02-09T02:34:21Z")
> [@Augie](#): > > Why is it easier to take a shit than to give a shit in our selfish, apathetic society? Good question. Maybe because it’s so easy to **be** a shit. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/38 "2005-02-09T02:57:57Z")
> [@EvanS](#): > > We were just bullshitting. Different tense, describes an ongoing action taking place in the past vs. an action completed at some time in the past. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/39 "2005-02-09T06:53:00Z")
If you don’t like “bullshitted” as the past perfect form of “to bullshit” you could always go with “shot the shit.” ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879/40 "2005-02-09T06:55:34Z")
Sorry, I meant simple past, not past perfect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-to-shit/288879.md?page=3)