hit the fan
To have a dramatic, usually negative, effectTo have a dramatic, usually negative, effect.
» The shit has hit the fan.
Jetzt ist die Kacke am Dampfen. — MUIRIEL
Все пішло шкереберть. — deniko
the_usual · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(idiomatic)To have a dramatic, usually negative, effect.
They were just clowning around, when suddenly it all hit the fan.
Then the shit really hit the fan.
Examples
10 sentencesThe shit has hit the fan.
Все пішло шкереберть. — deniko
deJetzt ist die Kacke am Dampfen. — MUIRIEL
This was when the shit completely hit the fan.
It was on the fourth night that things really hit the fan.
Shit hit the fan.
ruНачалось в колхозе утро! — Ooneykcall
This is when poop hit the fan.
Origin
Uncertain. Possibly derived from an old joke:Uncertain. Possibly derived from an old joke:
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
hits the fan, hitting the fan, hit the fan, hit the fan| Base form | hit the fan · to hit the fan |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | hits the fan |
| Present participle | hitting the fan |
| Past simple | hit the fan |
| Past participle | hit the fan |
irregular · Lesson
Lessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, irregular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.