shove it
shove it (source: www.celebpub.com)
A few days ago, Jessy and I were watching TV and heard one expression that we all do not understand. (Not a surprise! 🙂 ) By just hearing it, it sounded not really good at all. I think it was the NBC nightly news with Brian Williams. FYI, news is one of the things I really try to watch every day because they speak English very clearly and also I can learn a lot of political aspects of the United States. Anyway, one of the news that Brian mentioned was about a politician who tried to get an endorsement from Barack Obama, the president of the United States for his campaign. But, he was not able to get it.
He then got angry and told the president, “Shove it!” That was one of the news. Jessy and I started to look up the word, shove, to make sure what that means. The word, shove, means “push roughly.” For example, you are in a hurry and try to go though a big crowd to get to a place. What you are going to try is pushing people roughly so that you can get through them. In doing so, you are shoving. Then, what can “shove it” mean? Now, let’s imagine that you have something in front of you which is “it.” What will happen if you push it roughly? It will be moving away from you, right?
Moving on, what if you say this one to someone who is saying something? Then, his/her remark becomes an object that is being shoved. I believe you now get the idea of this expression. It is almost like “shut up” but I think this sounds even worse. But, to be honest, I still cannot get the correct feeling of this expression.
So, I will ask my American friends to answer my question. Which one is harsher, ‘shut up’ or ‘shove it’?
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“Shove it” is part part of a larger phrase that is not safe for TV and was thus shortened to “shove it”, the full phrase is: “Shove it up your ass”, where “it” is whatever the person was offering, in this case an endorsement. See also: “cram it”, “stuff it”
To add to what Phil said, ‘shove it’ is not really the same as ‘shut up’. When you tell someone to shove it, you’re not telling them to stop talking.
Here’s an example:
We’re at the bar. As I’m taking a drink, you bump my arm and cause me to spill beer all over myself. I get really mad. You offer to buy me a new beer to make up for the spilled one. I might tell you to take that new beer and shove it up your ass because to me another drink doesn’t make up for the fact that I’m covered in beer.
Another example:
You get laid off from your job. You boss says he’s really sorry that he has to let you go, but offers to write you a nice referral letter to help you get a new job. You’re so mad about losing your job that you tell your boss to take the referral letter and shove it.
You and Phil’s examples are perfect. Now, I can understand the expression a lot clearer. Awesome!
So, cram it seems exactly same as shove it. But stuff it is a little more closer to shut up because the full expression of it is “Stuff a sock in it!”?
During the 2004 elections, Teresa Heinz Kerry told the editor of the Trib to shove it (there’s a long history why she doesn’t like the Trib).
She’s one of my heroes– and shortly after that, my sister Patty was staying at my apartment on my floor and she said that while I was sleeping I sat up and said “shove it!”
Hey Carol, Thanks for sharing your story! That gives me a real good feeling of the expression.