I grew up hearing my mother and grandmother saying this and now i use it. Many of my friends have never heard it. I'm interested in the origin of this expression. All I can tell you from my end is that my Grand mother, mother and I are all from Baltimore!
Stephanie on June 1, 2009
Evidently someone either left the roll empty or the seat up one to many times for the rats liking
Scott on September 15, 2009
Pretty simple,kylie.A shit house is an outhouse.An outhouse is a type of toilet in a small structure separate from the main building which does not have a flush and is not attached to a sewer.A rat that lives in a shithouse(or outhouse)is crazy.You'd have to be crazy to want to live inside of an outhouse(or shithouse)Thus,being a rat(or anyone for that matter)who lives there is crazy.When put together,and aimed towards a specific subject,the saying clearly states that the person,or thing is CRAZIER then something that would decide to live inside of a facility that is full of feces,hence the saying
Well, maybe the walls of the outhouse pits, being moist mud, were impossible to traverse even for a rat and they really did go insane... just my thoughts on it.
JeffGuru on April 6, 2010
UMM THIS DOSENT HELP
DEAVAGHS on October 28, 2010
Don't over think it... sometimes a certain turn of phrase simply has a funny ring:-) I think this is one of those cases.
Beavis on January 22, 2012
From what I understand, the saying has changed over time. I believe the original saying was "Nuttier than a shithouse mouse." (rhymed) The gross pun was a reference to peanuts in feces, and a rat that would eat them. "Nutty" was also used to mean "crazy", as in "The Nutty Professor," "That guy is a nut," etc. I believe eventually, the phrase changed from "nuttier" to "crazier"; an easy transformation because they had the same meaning, but the phrase lost the pun that made it make sense. Mouse transformed into rat, and we're left with "Crazier than a shithouse rat."
Tomcat on September 19, 2012
It's nice to be part of this stream of shithouse rat saying origin postulations. The saying is indeed 'inherently funny'. Funniest of all, is we decided to google this and found this page, full of people who were obviously doing the same thing. The more we scrolled down, the more we laughed- SO HARD- we needed to reach for a roll of toilet paper because we were about to shit our pants. We can only hope, that when run into our shithouse (didn't know that shithouse was one word until now) that we don't run into that crazy, nutty rat/mouse.
ArtCynth on July 28, 2013
I am the illustrious scribe who coinef that phrase as a spin on the old wisdom "slicker than a shithouse rat" .
I dont need the glory. I am just happy to have contributed to the evolution of civilization.
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Comments
whaaaaaaat does this mean
kylie on March 24, 2009
it should be mouse
hannah on April 27, 2009
Its like when somebody is frekin insane!
Bart on May 22, 2009
I grew up hearing my mother and grandmother saying this and now i use it. Many of my friends have never heard it. I'm interested in the origin of this expression. All I can tell you from my end is that my Grand mother, mother and I are all from Baltimore!
Stephanie on June 1, 2009
Evidently someone either left the roll empty or the seat up one to many times for the rats liking
Scott on September 15, 2009
Pretty simple,kylie.A shit house is an outhouse.An outhouse is a type of toilet in a small structure separate from the main building which does not have a flush and is not attached to a sewer.A rat that lives in a shithouse(or outhouse)is crazy.You'd have to be crazy to want to live inside of an outhouse(or shithouse)Thus,being a rat(or anyone for that matter)who lives there is crazy.When put together,and aimed towards a specific subject,the saying clearly states that the person,or thing is CRAZIER then something that would decide to live inside of a facility that is full of feces,hence the saying
HesherJaded on December 11, 2009
HAHAHAHAHA okay so i am just looking at this website randomly, and i'm pretty sure my roommate from last year (jennaaay) put this one down
Amy on December 11, 2009
Is that Jennaaay from Forest Gump ?
HesherJaded on December 11, 2009
Well, maybe the walls of the outhouse pits, being moist mud, were impossible to traverse even for a rat and they really did go insane... just my thoughts on it.
JeffGuru on April 6, 2010
UMM THIS DOSENT HELP
DEAVAGHS on October 28, 2010
Don't over think it... sometimes a certain turn of phrase simply has a funny ring:-) I think this is one of those cases.
Beavis on January 22, 2012
From what I understand, the saying has changed over time. I believe the original saying was "Nuttier than a shithouse mouse." (rhymed) The gross pun was a reference to peanuts in feces, and a rat that would eat them. "Nutty" was also used to mean "crazy", as in "The Nutty Professor," "That guy is a nut," etc. I believe eventually, the phrase changed from "nuttier" to "crazier"; an easy transformation because they had the same meaning, but the phrase lost the pun that made it make sense. Mouse transformed into rat, and we're left with "Crazier than a shithouse rat."
Tomcat on September 19, 2012
It's nice to be part of this stream of shithouse rat saying origin postulations. The saying is indeed 'inherently funny'. Funniest of all, is we decided to google this and found this page, full of people who were obviously doing the same thing. The more we scrolled down, the more we laughed- SO HARD- we needed to reach for a roll of toilet paper because we were about to shit our pants. We can only hope, that when run into our shithouse (didn't know that shithouse was one word until now) that we don't run into that crazy, nutty rat/mouse.
ArtCynth on July 28, 2013
I am the illustrious scribe who coinef that phrase as a spin on the old wisdom "slicker than a shithouse rat" . I dont need the glory. I am just happy to have contributed to the evolution of civilization.
willberb on April 21, 2015