shit show

See also: shitshow

English

Alternative forms

• shit-show, shitshow

Etymology

From shit +‎ show.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ʃɪt ʃoʊ/

Noun

shit show (plural shit shows)

1. (colloquial, vulgar) A messy situation, especially involving drunkenness and partying.

   Synonym: crapshow

   • 1973, Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights, page 410:

     There is that swine again. We don't want this shit-show any longer...

   • 1999, Jamie Harrison, An Unfortunate Prairie Occurrence: a Blue Deer mystery, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 330:

     I was too busy helping Laura clean up for this shit show.

   • 2003, Aironius French, The Adventures of Waiterman, Lord of the Restaurant Jungle, Trafford Publishing, vol. 1, no. 1, →ISBN, page 186:

     The primary cause of the customer directed apathy was the servers' preoccupations with getting drunk and creating a script for the nightly shit show.

   • 2008, Thomas Holland, KIA: A Dr. Kel McKelvey Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 12:

     Things can't possibly be so bad at work that you'd volunteer for another trip to this shit show.

2. (colloquial, vulgar) A situation characterized by chaos, confusion, or incompetence.

   Synonym: (US) hot mess

   Coordinate term: shitstorm