give someone the shits
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: gives someone the shits
form: giving someone the shits
form: gave someone the shits
form: given someone the shits
Senses: examples: text: Can you stop sending me text messages at two in the morning? You're giving me the shits!
text: ‘You give me the shits,’ I stammered, sick with anger. ‘You give me the shits.’
ref: 1977, Helen Garner, Monkey Grip, ReadHowYouWant, published 2011, page 222:
text: “You know the Aussies are shit and they give me the shits. My taxi, when they come, I say, fuck you. I never let them in. You Indians are good people. Are you here for business or for pleasure?″
ref: 2008, Arunesh Choubey, The Migrant, India, →ISBN, page 17:
text: Women who are too damn sensitive give me the shits. Every single damn thing that comes out of your mouth is wrong. You can't say a damn thing without getting into an argument.
ref: 2008, R. Smart, Sinners Have a Soul Too, page 488:
text: When I questioned if she was OK, she said, “Yeah I'm fine now Miss. This chick has been giving me the shits for ages so I put her head inside a clothes dryer. It's fine now.”
ref: 2011, Bronnie Ware, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing, page 194:
synonyms: word: boil someone's piss
word: piss off
word: aggravate
word: annoy
word: rankle
word: ruffle
word: sting
word: antagonize
word: bother
word: disgruntle
word: botherate
word: bug
word: get
word: grate
word: burn up
word: bedevil
word: cheese off
word: devil
word: exasperate
word: frustrate
word: get up
word: grotch
word: hack off
word: hassle
word: irk
word: irritate
word: jazz
word: molest
word: mommick
word: nark
word: nerve
word: pee off
word: peeve
word: persecute
word: pique
word: piss off
word: provoke
word: rile
word: rile up
word: roil
word: storm
word: test someone's patience
word: tick off
word: trouble
word: try one's patience
word: vex
word: wind up
word: Idioms:
word: boil someone's piss
word: chap someone's hide
word: get on someone's nerves
word: get on someone's tits
word: get on someone's wick
word: get someone's back up
word: get someone's dander up
word: get someone's goat
word: get someone's Irish up
word: get someone's nanny
word: get someone's nanny-goat
word: get under one's goat
word: get under someone's skin
word: give someone the shits
word: grind one's gears
word: harsh one's mellow
word: put someone's back up
word: raise someone's hackles
word: rub someone the wrong way
word: rub up the wrong way
word: ruffle someone's feathers
word: tee off
word: torque off
glosses: To annoy or frustrate someone to a great degree.
examples: text: Can you stop perching on the cliff ledge? You're giving me the shits!
text: This feeling of being the last man on earth is giving me the shits.
ref: 1996, Peter Rimmer, Cry of the Fish Eagle, page 16:
text: He saw the driver shut off the power, and stare upwards in horror, and that really gave him the shits[…]
ref: 2008, Philip Packham, Thompson (with a 'p'), page 216:
text: Yet Amos knew Varney stirred strange sensations inside most people, something that would grab an ordinary man by the gut and gave him the shits.
ref: 2011, Denise A. Agnew, Before the Dawn, page 47:
synonyms: word: scare the shit out of
word: alarm
word: affright
word: appall
word: dismay
word: fray
word: frighten
word: grill
word: give someone the shits
word: harrow
word: horrify
word: make someone's blood run cold
word: mortify
word: petrify
word: scare
word: scare straight
word: scare the bejeebers out of
word: scare the hell out of
word: scare the pants off of
word: scare the shit out of
word: terrorize
word: terrify
word: spook
word: creep someone out
word: give someone the heebie-jeebies
word: alarm
word: affright
word: appall
word: dismay
word: fray
word: frighten
word: grill
word: give someone the shits
word: harrow
word: horrify
word: make someone's blood run cold
word: mortify
word: petrify
word: scare
word: scare straight
word: scare the bejeebers out of
word: scare the hell out of
word: scare the pants off of
word: scare the shit out of
word: terrorize
word: terrify
word: spook
glosses: To creep someone out; to scare someone.
examples: text: Can you stop ignoring the health code requirements for commercial kitchens? You're giving everyone the shits!
glosses: Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: cause diarrhea.