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shit kicking
potentially offensive
DCHP-3 (Apr 2023)
Spelling variants:shit-kicking
Definitions 1a, 1b and 1d are the only ones that have a claim to Canadian-ness by virtue of frequency. The assessment is based on an analysis of all listed meanings in open web searches.
1an., often in "to take a shit kicking" — Sports, informal
a defeat in a game.
Type: 5. Frequency — The term shit kicking is described as North American coarse slang by both the Canadian Oxford Dictionary (see COD-2) and the Oxford English Dictionary (see the OED-3), but is in far greater use in Canada than in the United States in the present day (see Chart 1).
The term is not listed in CCD-2010, Gage-5, CGCPD-2006, FWSCD-82, or ITP Nelson.
The term is not listed in Merriam-Webster Unabridged, W-2, W-3, or DARE.
The term is not listed in EDD.
The term is not listed in CCD-2010, Gage-5, CGCPD-2006, FWSCD-82, or ITP Nelson.
The term is not listed in Merriam-Webster Unabridged, W-2, W-3, or DARE.
The term is not listed in EDD.
Quotations
1974
"We took a gawdawful shit-kicking before it was over. The North Nova Scotia Highlanders got mauled at Authie, the North Shores at Carpiquet, Highland Light Infantry at Buron..."
2013
Lang: I actually have two favourite moments between the two teams. Last year's Labour Day Classic was definitely a classic: a 52-0 shit kicking at Mosaic.
2015
“Bull riding is like any sport, you don’t start out good at it, you get tossed and take a shit kicking, but then you get over the concept of giving up and do good at it and strive to be excellent, the best you can be at it.” - said Jesse. “In my eyes, it is more the try and the heart, than the talent.”
1bn. — Informal
a physical assault or beating.
Type: 5. Frequency — This meaning is in active use today, while definition (1a) seems to be rarer than before.
Quotations
1999
Miloszewski added: "So at the same scene, we got him in the bushes right, shit kicking and curb-stomping, punching, Rob was punching. I am curbing the guy's teeth and everything."
Temple president Balwant Singh Gill, who was in court along with about 35 friends and supporters of the dead man, said he was shocked to learn of "Plan B" and the assault on another Sikh man.
"We would have put in extra security if we had known about the other attack," Balwant Gill said. "What we heard this morning is very disturbing and very scary. It was just shocking news."
2004
Despite what they had done in liberating Italy from the fascists, not all of their colleagues showed them respect. Veterans of the Italian campaign were often called D-Day dodgers. It's a label that infuriates my uncle.
"Tell that to all the guys killed in Sicily or Ortona, and see whether we were D-Day dodgers. We took a shit-kicking," he said.
2016
Mayor Hec Lavigne said he doesn't anticipate any significant issues
in his community.
So far so good, but we're keeping an eye on everything," he said.
The water in Callander Bay is down significantly."
The roads are a different story. Roads have taken a shit-kicking,"
Lavigne said, adding there will be a lot of patch work once the
warmer weather returns.
1c†n. — Social relations, Informal
heavy critique.
Quotations
1992
Long before Saturday morning's floor fight on Sunday working/ shopping (the hottest debate of the weekend), several establishment types were bragging that they had no problem taking a 'theatrical shit-kicking', since they had won all the important matters.
And even on this item, the establishment sought some small vengeance by organizing to defeat an official slate candidate for the executive, Pearl McKay the United Food and Commercial Workers' director of education and research, because she was one of the key leaders in the anti-Sunday shopping campaign.
1992
Mr. Crispo would not comment about the substance of the Valour affair and the fact that "I've been singled out as the evil ogre behind the scenes," a reference to two press reports that he led a move to discredit the documentary.
He stressed that the board was unanimous in its decision to endorse the ombudsman's report but did concede that, after the report came under fire, "I told the powers-that-be that they had better do something (about the media criticism) because I would do it myself, if they don't.
"Can you believe an organization like this? I, personally, am not going to take this shit-kicking any longer."
2014
I thought the most honest moment in the world in the last little while was the President of the United States saying a couple weeks ago on national television that he didn't have a national strategy yet for defeating ISIL. And he got his head kicked in because presidents are not allowed to say that. And maybe that's a legitimate, maybe the American people need to think that their president can do something. But he was telling the truth. And what he said yesterday was simply in reaction to the shit kicking he got when he dared say he didn't know what to do.
1dn. — Financial, Informal.
a severe financial loss.
Type: 5. Frequency — By metaphorical extension of definitions (1a) and (1b).
Quotations
2008
On the other hand, current prices don't generate enough income for
farmers to make a decent living.
"Vegetable prices haven't been any higher in 10 years," she said.
"We're taking a shit-kicking, but everyone eats well."
2011
Still, even Mr. McLellan admits: "It would mean a lot of high-paying jobs for the area. I will say that."
That's why most municipalities are standing back, waiting for provincial and federal environmental assessments to conclude, says Courtenay Mayor Greg Phelps.
"Our resource industries have taken a real shit-kicking. We could certainly use those jobs. But we don't want them at the expense of the shellfish industry. What we're saying is: set emotions aside and look at the facts."
2015
In early June the second trial got underway. Barnfield again represented himself, as he says he can't afford a lawyer. He already spent $14,000 on legal representation for the appeal process.
"I'm taking a shit kicking," said Barnfield, who in June again tried to demonstrate the improper designation of his property.
2†adj. — Informal
(pretending to be) fashionable.
Type: 5. Frequency — In an inversion of the "bad" becoming the "fashionable", shit-kicking acquires positive connotations.
Quotations
1999
The company's low-budget marketing campaign also won over attendees, who got a kick out of the look-alike Formula One racecar driver, Mika Hakkinen, Newbridge hired for under $100, who happened to be the boyfriend of the company's marketing vice-president's secretary in Europe.
"The perception was, `Wow, this is a really shit-kicking company'," says Mr. Flynn.
"We had HR people giving out job applications and had a huge amount of people applying for jobs."
2006
Alone, Marshall's voice (of the honey-and-smoke genre) ties together the album, laying itself on one-chord blues (After it All ), country weepers (Islands ), a shit-kicking Crimson and Clover knockoff (Empty Shell ), and a simple love song (Could We ). She does simple? Hey, she's complex -- not an alien or anything.
3†adj. — Informal, rare
unimportant.
Quotations
2001
The Bullitt Foundation, run by Denis Hayes, the founder of Earth Day, funded by three sisters who are using an old-tech (broadcasting) fortune, and who were awarded the First Citizen Award in Seattle last year (quite a coup when you consider the competition) exclusively funds every environmental shit- kicking outfit that exists west of the Mississippi.
4†adj. — Rural, Prairies, Informal.
relating to a type of boot to be worn around a ranch.
Quotations
2000
That's where a guy like Al Magee comes in. Magee is a TV doctor. If you need your show whipped into shape, he's your first call. Magee consults to a number of broadcasters and production firms. He helps mould scripts, straighten out storylines, he turns a good idea into a great TV show. Just this side of 40, Magee wears shit- kicking cowboy boots with expensive black suits. Know why? Because he can. He's also an IP himself with many shows in development and production.
5†adj. — Social Relations, Prairies, Informal
plain-spoken; provocative.
Quotations
1993
Australia Australian author Helen Garner describes herself as "a shit-kicking social realist." Her 1977 novel, Monkey Grip, earned her the Australian National Book Council's Book of the Year Award and was made into a feature film. Since then she has penned several novels and short-story collections, including The Children's Bach (1984) and Postcards From Surfers (1985). Her newest work of fiction, Cosmo Cosmolino (1993), has received praise for its "forceful imagery and sinous language" (Times Literary Supplement). She is a member of the Literature Board of the Australian Council.
1998
From Anne of Green Gables to Jake and the Kid, from Susanna Moodie's meditations on life in the bush to the earnest rural introspection of Canadian playwrights and poets in the 1960s and '70s (popularly known as "prairie shit-kicking literature"), wordsmiths of both official languages minutely mined the hinterlands for all that they are worth.
References
- COD-2 • shit-kicking
- OED-3 • shit-kicking (n.)
Images
