hit the fan

English

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly derived from an old joke:

A man in a crowded bar needed to defecate but couldn't find a bathroom, so he went upstairs and used a hole in the floor. Returning, he found everyone had gone except the bartender, who was cowering behind the bar. When the man asked what had happened, the bartender replied, 'Where were you when the shit hit the fan?'

Other possible sources include American/Canadian military slang or agricultural manure spreaders.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

hit the fan (third-person singular simple present hits the fan, present participle hitting the fan, simple past and past participle hit the fan)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To have a dramatic, usually negative, effect.

   They were just clowning around, when suddenly it all hit the fan.

   Then the shit really hit the fan.

   • 2004 December 2, Neil Cavuto, “Interview With Jeff Flake”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     Let me ask you, Congressman, the case of a lot of these corporate scandals, I followed enough of them to know how -- how it works out. Once everything starts hitting the fan, the CEO, the chairman or maybe a large share of the board of directors simply leaves, resigns

Usage notes

• Usually in the phrase (when the) shit hits the fan. Use with other subjects than shit is probably intended to evoke the image without actually saying the word which is taboo in some contexts.

Related terms

• shit show
• shitstorm
• shower of shit
• shit happens