shit a brick

English

Alternative forms

• shit bricks

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

shit a brick (third-person singular simple present shits a brick, present participle shitting a brick, simple past shit a brick or shat a brick or shitted a brick, past participle shit a brick or shitted a brick or shat a brick)

1. (idiomatic, vulgar) To react strongly or excessively, especially in anger, fear, or astonishment.

   If our boss finds out we did this and didn't tell him, he's gonna shit a brick.

   • 1997, Kurt Vonnegut, Timequake:

     She was thunderstruck when she came face to face with the tomb of Sir Isaac Newton. At her age, and in that same place, my big brother Bernie, a born scientist who can't draw or paint for sour apples, would have shit an even bigger brick.

Related terms

• brick it

Translations

To react strongly in anger

• Danish: gå amok (literally “walk amok”), flippe ud
• French: chier une pendule (fr) (to shit a clock), péter un plomb (fr)
• Portuguese: ficar puto da cara

To react strongly in fear

• Danish: skide i bukserne (literally “shit in the pants”)
• French: chier dans son froc (fr) (to shit in one's pants)
• Portuguese: se cagar de medo
• Romanian: a se căca pe el de frică
• Russian: обосра́ться кирпичами (ru) (obosrátʹsja kirpičami)
• Spanish: cagarse de miedo
• Swedish: skita knäck

Further reading

• Jonathon Green (2024) “shit a brick v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang