Practice English Speaking&Listening with: Don't Make This Mistake in English: SH*T vs THE SH*T

What's going on, guys? So I had to share this story with you because it was quite funny

I had never even thought of this to be honest, but

This is it's gonna be an episode where I talk about a swear word in English or informal English

So, just be careful if you decide to use these

phrases or the word

Just be careful when and how you use it

But I want to share this with you because I think it'll be helpful

for your understanding a bit more about English expressions, a bit more about how we use swear words and

A bit more about Australian culture in particular where swearing is pretty common amongst friends in informal situations

Okay

So the two expressions that I want to talk about today are when you say that something is

Shit and when you say that something is The shit. Ok? And so

If something is shit, it's awful. Ok, so I have coffee here, if I take a sip.

Oh, that coffees horrible, it's awful. It's shit. Well, this is really shit. It's shit

So, in that case I'm using the word shit which means feces, poo

We use that in English to talk about things that are horrible

we can use it in English to talk about things that are horrible not always as you're about to find out so

If I say something is shit, it's horrible. The weather is shit, outside is shit

My friends are shit. The beach is shit. There are no waves. I can't surf today. It's shit!

This room is shit. If I wanna use it like that, it's very informal because I'm using a swear word

But I can say this around friends, around people that you hear swearing. If you hear people using the word shit

Generally, that means it's okay for you to use the word shit and again because you're describing other things

You're not using it directly at that person

You're in less danger of offending anyone, right? So if I say you're shit

That's when it starts to get more offensive

right?

If the person doesn't see that I'm kidding

If I'm not joking around they may get offended, anyway, to say something is shit using it as an adjective like that

It is shit, is describing it as horrible, awful, really bad.

Alright. Now when I use it as a noun to say that something is the

Shit. Ok? That is the important difference here, THE shit

It means the thing is awesome, that it is amazing that it is

The best, okay? So it is it has literally completely changed the meaning if I use it as an adjective

this coffee is

Shit, it's horrible. If I say this coffee is the

Shit, and now I'm saying it as a noun. It's awesome. It is the best, it is the shit. Ok?

So that was something really confusing for Kel recently

I went away with my family and my mum had cooked a really good cake, a cheesecake and

We loved this cheesecake and my friend James had come over

You've probably heard or seen him on videos, on the podcast. He's around

So he'd come over

Mum cut him a piece of cake and gave him a piece of cake and it was an informal situation

We were drinking, having fun

It was a party and James said to my mum 'Jo, this cake is the shit!'

Like 'Joe, this cake is amazing!'

Kel, my fiancee at the time who is now my wife,

Was like 'James! You can't say that! The cakes really good. How can you say that

It's shit?!' And that was what was so funny because I realized I was like, oh my gosh we can use

Shit and the shit to mean completely opposite things

She had heard, she had thought that James had said the cake was shit, that it was horrible, that it was awful

This cake is shit

but

actually James had said that the cake was the

Shit, meaning the complete opposite that the cake was amazing

So, that was a funny story, that was a bit of context there for you guys for how to use

Shit as an adjective if we're describing something this thing is shit

But if you want to say that something is the shit using it now as a noun

The shit it means that it is

amazing

ok?, and I guess too, to quickly add, don't use

A shit, ok? Because we would use if someone is a shit

Especially a child, a little shit. It means that they are a horrible child

So we can use it as a noun in that sense to mean someone's a horrible child

This little kid is a shit. He is a little shit. But yeah

and that was the

Situation so, it gives you a bit of an understanding too of what it is like my best friend from high school

We know each other really well. He knows my family the

Occasion was very casual. It was informal. We were having dinner. We were just sitting around talking

Drinking in those sorts of situations it is, okay

To swear if you know the people you're speaking with are the kind of people who are either

Ok with you swearing or you hear them swearing themselves. So, in the case of my mum she doesn't swear very often

She may swear if you swear, sort of as a joke, but she doesn't swear very often

Whereas someone like me, my father, my sister

We tend to swear a little bit more

So, for you advice with regards to using this kind of language, I would use it with very good friends or

I would use it with people that I don't know as well if

They're using this kind of language, if they are swearing in front of you about

Things, if someone says Oh man, this coffee shit, you know, you can probably say oh no

But I think that this food is the shit and no one's gonna get offended

Okay

You know, you can't really be offended if you're using a certain language and someone else starts using the same kind of language

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this episode, guys. I hope it gives you some interesting

insights into

swear words how they can be used in casual and informal language and how

Words don't always mean the same thing in different contexts. Sometimes they can mean completely different things

Ok? So, remember if something is

shit

It's horrible. If something is the shit, it's amazing. Okay?

So, with that I'll see you in the next episode. Catcha!