# Shit-eating grin (NEED ANSWER FAST) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 23, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979 "2015-07-23T18:52:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Buford\_was\_no\_angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Buford\_was\_no\_angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buford_was_no_angel)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/1 "2015-07-23T18:52:56Z")
What is the etymology of this phrase? Examples would be appreciated. ---
**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:** [July 23, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/2 "2015-07-23T19:35:00Z")
The OED gives these as the first cites: > [@OED](#): > > a. Designating a broad grin expressing uncontrollable delight or self-satisfaction, esp. characterized by awareness of having got away with something normally considered outrageous or improper; (also) designating a consciously disarming, self-deprecating, slightly cheeky grin, often used to deflect censure or disapproval. > > [1949 Amer. Legion Mag. Sept. 61/1 This lad…brings with him wide blue eyes, a butch haircut, a shy, shingle-eating grin, and a firm conviction that no real bullets will be used.] > 1956 J. Moffett in New World Writing No. 10. 16 You’ve got the most shit-eating grin I ever saw. > 1958 Stack A Lee (typescript, Kinsey Inst.) 1 Another bitch looked at Stack with a shit eating smile And said, dont look like you’ve had any for quite awhile. I would assume the smugness of the appearance has something to do with the etymology. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/3 "2015-07-23T19:39:46Z")
Not sure on the etymology but I’ve also heard a variant phrased as “smiling like a possum eating a pile of shit”. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/4 "2015-07-23T20:20:27Z")
Ever have a puppy? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/5 "2015-07-23T21:45:20Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Not sure on the etymology but I’ve also heard a variant phrased as “smiling like a possum eating a pile of shit”. Where I came from it was “grinning like a possum eating shit out of a coke bottle”. ---
**Author:** ![Nefario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/59ef9b/32.png) [@Nefario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefario)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/6 "2015-07-23T22:08:30Z")
Ever see a dog eat their own vomit? 😃 I suspect this is close… Dogs have a way of rolling back their lips and exposing their teeth when they choose to eat something that tastes bad but they want it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Buford\_was\_no\_angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Buford\_was\_no\_angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buford_was_no_angel)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/7 "2015-07-24T11:01:59Z")
Thanks for the replies, folks. Does anyone have a photographic example? ---
**Author:** ![Buford\_was\_no\_angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Buford\_was\_no\_angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buford_was_no_angel)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/8 "2015-07-24T14:07:46Z")
Would this count? [http://https://www.google.com/search?q=hank+williams+jr+greatest+hits&biw=1600&bih=806&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ\_AUoAWoVChMIifW5-\_fzxgIV0LIeCh0hRwom#imgrc=og3LR77m-kYs6M%3A](http://https://www.google.com/search?q=hank+williams+jr+greatest+hits&biw=1600&bih=806&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIifW5-_fzxgIV0LIeCh0hRwom#imgrc=og3LR77m-kYs6M%3A) ---
**Author:** ![Buford\_was\_no\_angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Buford\_was\_no\_angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buford_was_no_angel)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/9 "2015-07-24T15:51:40Z")
Oops. Link didn’t work. I’m thinking the album cover of Hank Williams, Jr.'s _Greatest Hits_ might be a good example. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/10 "2015-07-24T17:37:42Z")
Dogs will eat cat shit and “grin” while doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/11 "2015-07-24T17:58:20Z")
> [@Buford\_was\_no\_angel](#): > > Oops. Link didn’t work. I’m thinking the album cover of Hank Williams, Jr.'s _Greatest Hits_ might be a good example. [Here it is.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b3/HankJrGreatest.jpg/220px-HankJrGreatest.jpg) However, I think that looks more like laughter than a grin. I think [this](http://33.media.tumblr.com/0797307aa6261d0f7d5ae19c82557e58/tumblr_ms6qi7WsHU1r8rx5xo3_250.gif) is more like it. Possibly related is the expression “happy as a pig in shit.” Both pigs and dogs will happily eat shit. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shit-eating-grin-need-answer-fast/725979/12 "2015-07-24T20:09:42Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [Here it is.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b3/HankJrGreatest.jpg/220px-HankJrGreatest.jpg) However, I think that looks more like laughter than a grin. > > I think [this](http://33.media.tumblr.com/0797307aa6261d0f7d5ae19c82557e58/tumblr_ms6qi7WsHU1r8rx5xo3_250.gif) is more like it. > > Possibly related is the expression “happy as a pig in shit.” Both pigs and dogs will happily eat shit. I think a really proper SEG involves both very exposed teeth and the mouth closed, and neither of those does. [Jimmy Carter](http://fair.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Jimmy_Carter_cropped.jpg) or [David Bromberg](http://rymimg.com/lk/f/a/5513fa193ebb98acb6dadacbbf2ee593/2192877.jpg) are practitioners who spring to mind.