SHTF

[AmirSalaam]

This stands for "**** hits the fan", correct?

I had not heard this phrase until coming here (or at least don't remember hearing it). Where did this originate? I think I understand it's intended meaning, but I cannot imagine why literal **** would ever hit a literal fan, so I'm having trouble rationalizing why this ever became a popular idiom.

Thanks for any help!

Amir

 

[jimLE]

I have no idea to how it got started.much less why.but i do know its expression/saying is used get a point acrss,to what a person means.for example.what if i told you it sure is wet out?that'd most and likely tell you it had been raining out.which means i got my point across with what told you..

 

[Gazrok]

Some other helpful acronyms:

TEOTWAWKI - The End Of The World As We Know It
BOB - Bug Out Bag (bag of stuff to go live in the woods if needed)
BOV - Bug Out Vehicle
BOL - Bug Out Location (where to go after the SHTF)
GHB - Get Home Bag (bag of stuff to last you as long as it takes to get to your home or bug out location)

but I cannot imagine why literal **** would ever hit a literal fan

Glad you asked:

The expression [the **** hits the fan] is related to, and may well derive from, an old joke. A man in a crowded bar needed to defecate but couldn't find a bathroom, so he went upstairs and used a hole in the floor. Returning, he found everyone had gone except the bartender, who was cowering behind the bar. When the man asked what had happened, the bartender replied, 'Where were you when the **** hit the fan?' [Hugh Rawson, "Wicked Words," 1989]

 

[lonewolf]

its very similar to the old british saying of "when the balloon goes up".

 

[Gazrok]

I thought the British expression was more "tits up"....

 

[lonewolf]

not by me it isn't!
if I didn't say "When the Sh1t hits the fan" I would normally say "when the balloon goes up" its more logical than "tits up".

 

[AmirSalaam]

What does "when the balloon goes up" mean??

 

[Skeeter]

Have you started any serious prepping yet, Amir? If I recall, you came to these forums as somewhat of a newbie to the whole prepping business. Hopefully you have learned some stuff and have had some questions answered.

 

[lonewolf]

What does "when the balloon goes up" mean??

in the first and second world wars, barrage balloons were raised over British cities to monitor enemy aircraft, the raising of these balloons was a sign that something was about to happen.
I think this is a better way of saying something is happening or is about to happen than referring to "the brown sticky stuff hitting the rotating blades" although saying SHTF is well known and most preppers understand what it means.

 

[AmirSalaam]

I bought a bunch of canned food (as much as I could reasonably budget for) and am planning my garden and learning how to preserve my own food. I still am without a gun or a dog, and don't have a bug out bag. I'm not prepared at all yet, but because of financial limitations I need to take it slow. I hope to be more comfortable in my prepping by mid summer

 

[lonewolf]

take it slow and steady Amir, you cant do it all at once.

 

[Kevin L]

I think SHTF came from a bunch of drunken fraternity kids doing screwed up things while drunk (perhaps from a dare).

I've heard this here and there, and my EMS experience bears out my extremely low opinion of drunken fraternity kids.

 

[Kevin L]

in the first and second world wars, barrage balloons were raised over British cities to monitor enemy aircraft, the raising of these balloons was a sign that something was about to happen.
I think this is a better way of saying something is happening or is about to happen than referring to "the brown sticky stuff hitting the rotating blades" although saying SHTF is well known and most preppers understand what it means.

I think "when the balloon goes up" refers to the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion.

 

[lonewolf]

I think "when the balloon goes up" refers to the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion.

no it isn't.

 

[Kevin L]

no it isn't.

Ok.

 

[DrHenley]

I don't pretend to know the origin of "Tits Up" but in my mind SHTF implies activity, just not the kind of activity you want, "Tits Up" to me implies death. When a project goes "Tits Up", it has failed.

"Tits Up" brings this kind of image to my mind:

 

[lonewolf]

"Tits up" means death, broken, similar I think to "belly up".

 

[Billy Roper]

SHTF is easier than TEOTWAWKI. lol

 

[lonewolf]

and a lot of people get confused about that one too!! its easier to say SHTF.

 

[Maverick]

When things go bad it really doesn't matter what it's called, I reckon when the time comes the only word I see myself saying is '****' That word applies to simply hitting the thumb with a hammer to seeing a bomb being dropped where you stand

 

[lonewolf]

i'm always saying "when the **** hits the fan" to the wife about some stupid thing some sheeple has done!

 

[Brent S]

I bought a bunch of canned food (as much as I could reasonably budget for) and am planning my garden and learning how to preserve my own food. I still am without a gun or a dog, and don't have a bug out bag. I'm not prepared at all yet, but because of financial limitations I need to take it slow. I hope to be more comfortable in my prepping by mid summer

Baby steps! We all have financial limits. I always grab a little extra when shopping, and over time it has amounted to a great security hedge.

 

[Gazrok]

Doesn't just have to be SHTF though.

For example, our kids moved in with us, and this made some expenses go WAY up. At the time, we had a decent food stockpile, so this helped us just slowly increase the expense, vs. a shock to the wallet.

Once, our water was out for over a month, until we could afford to get it fixed. Luckily, we had water stores, and things in place for it, that allowed us to function (though man did it suck hauling water buckets).