metric shitload

English

Etymology

Jocular extension of shitload (“a very large amount”), absurdly treating it as a unit of measurement (which could have a metric counterpart). Regarding the synonymous phrases a shitload of and a ton of, the coordination of ton versus metric ton is most likely the precedent by which shitload versus metric shitload was jocularly inspired; compare also metric fuckton.

Noun

metric shitload (plural metric shitloads)

1. (vulgar, often humorous) A very large number or amount.

   Synonyms: metric fuckton; see also Thesaurus:lot

   • 1982, Robert Merkin, The south Florida book of the dead, William Morrow & Co, →ISBN:

     Me, I spent it fantasizing about the future, airbrushing an old dream that had only required a metric shitload of cash.

   • 1987, Robert Merkin, Zombie jamboree: a novel, McGraw-Hill Book Co, →ISBN:

     Lifer karma, that's what it was, and I'd apparently accumulated a metric shitload of it.

   • 2005, Maureen Johnson, The Bermudez Triangle, Penguin, →ISBN:

     “And then, because that wasn't enough,” he went on, “I got a credit card and bought a metric shitload of DVDs so that she could pick the one she wanted to watch. […] “

   • 2007, Charles Stross, Halting State, Penguin, →ISBN:

     So SPOOKS is basically a tool that permits an electronic intelligence agency to run a metric shitload of unwitting human intelligence agents, weekend spies.

   • 2011, Chuck Wendig, Double Dead, Abaddon Books, →ISBN:

     To his human mind, nothing here made sense. It was like that old game: One of these things is not like the other, one of these things does not belong. But it wasn't just one thing. It was a metric shitload of things. It was all things.

   • 2011, Charles Stross, Rule 34, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     “I refuse to speculate: It's unprofessional, and besides, she might have had a perfectly innocent reason for owning a metric shitload of cancelled bank-notes in an obsolete currency. […] “

   • 2012, M. L. N. Hanover, Killing Rites: Black Sun's Daughter: Book Four, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     I know you've got a metric shitload of questions about your uncle. I wish I could help you more, but hey. We do what we can, right?

Translations

vulgar: a very large amount