to give (someone) the shits
1
9.9
- idiom
- /ɡɪv sʌmˌwʌn ðə ʃɪts/
- Offensive
:
cabrear (vulgar)
- That constant noise next door really gave me the shits yesterday.
Examples
-
It gives me the shits when people don’t keep their promises.
-
His constant criticism really gives me the shits whenever I try to enjoy my work.
-
Waiting in line for hours just gives me the shits.
-
The way she disregarded my feelings gave me the shits after our conversation.
-
When he ignored my requests, it truly gave me the shits during the meeting.
Synonyms
90
3.9
Make someone feel bad by criticizing or teasing them
1
8.1
To scold or punish someone angrily for something they did wrong
1
7.9
To annoy someone or make them feel defensive
To cause someone trouble or make them upset
To spoil someone's good mood by being negative or critical
To spoil someone's good mood or stop them enjoying something
Antonyms
How Angry
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to make (someone) very upset or angry' is not compositionally derivable from 'give' + 'the' + 'shit' because the literal noun 'shit' (excrement) does not transparently map onto the emotion of anger; the construction is a vulgar, idiomatic colloquialism whose meaning has shifted. A B1 learner who knows the individual words but has not encountered the idiom would be unlikely to predict this sense, so it is unpredictable and language-specific.
Etymology
Give (someone) the shits may come from the literal idea of shits as a bad stomach problem that makes you feel sick and uncomfortable. So when something causes that strong, unpleasant feeling, people say it gives them 'the shits', meaning it makes them 'very upset' or 'angry'.