Source/recency of "i pooped a little"?
July 27, 2006 4:32 PM Subscribe
I've recently noticed "I pooped a little" as an expression of joyful mirth/surprise. Local example. Googling reveals examples of this mixed in with non-examples.
Is this a repetition of or riff based on some recent bit of pop culture? Was there a specific genesis to the phrase? Is this even all that new, or am I just suffering from the Recency Illusion?
I'm familiar with the idiom "I peed a little" in reference to gut-busting laughter—is this just a natural evolution of that?
Is this a repetition of or riff based on some recent bit of pop culture? Was there a specific genesis to the phrase? Is this even all that new, or am I just suffering from the Recency Illusion?
I'm familiar with the idiom "I peed a little" in reference to gut-busting laughter—is this just a natural evolution of that?
Is it an evolution of "I just threw up in my mouth a little"? I've noticed that one a lot, not so much of the pooping one.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:34 PM on July 27, 2006
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:34 PM on July 27, 2006
Yeah, I think this is just the natural evolution of the "I threw up in my mouth, a little" schtick.
posted by lekvar at 4:37 PM on July 27, 2006
posted by lekvar at 4:37 PM on July 27, 2006
Apparently you're all young and healthy. Once you get older, "I pooped a little" becomes a default reaction to pretty much anything.
posted by Mr. Blint at 4:41 PM on July 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr. Blint at 4:41 PM on July 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
"Laugh? I nearly shat myself!" (meaning "Are you asking me whether I laughed? I laughed so hard that I nearly shat myself!") has been around for a while (10 years+) in the UK, and might provide the missing evolutionary link between '...I peed..." and "...I pooped...".
Apparently, the phrase featured in Dog Soldiers, a 2002 movie.
posted by beniamino at 4:42 PM on July 27, 2006
Apparently, the phrase featured in Dog Soldiers, a 2002 movie.
posted by beniamino at 4:42 PM on July 27, 2006
I got it from a Scrubs episode a couple of years ago. It was uttered by John Ritter as JD's father (in one of his last TV appearances before he died, RIP).
JD's dad is a "pull my finger"/fart joke kind of guy, but apparently he's aging a bit. "I pooped a little" is the result of his final "pull my finger" interaction with JD.
posted by Dunwitty at 4:48 PM on July 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
JD's dad is a "pull my finger"/fart joke kind of guy, but apparently he's aging a bit. "I pooped a little" is the result of his final "pull my finger" interaction with JD.
posted by Dunwitty at 4:48 PM on July 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
As I was walking down the street one day
I saw a house on fire
There was man, standing at an upper-storey window
Shouting and screaming at the crowd that was gathered there below
For he was sore afraid
Jump! You fucker, jump!
Jump into this here blanket what we are holding
And you will be all right
He jumped, hit the deck, broke his fucking neck -
There was no blanket
Laugh?! We nearly shat!
We had not laughed so much since Grandma died
Or Auntie Mabel caught her left tit in the mangle
We are miserable sinners
Fi-i-ilthy fuckers
Ahhhrrrr-soles
(Dudley Moore, 1977)
posted by kindall at 4:51 PM on July 27, 2006 [3 favorites]
I saw a house on fire
There was man, standing at an upper-storey window
Shouting and screaming at the crowd that was gathered there below
For he was sore afraid
Jump! You fucker, jump!
Jump into this here blanket what we are holding
And you will be all right
He jumped, hit the deck, broke his fucking neck -
There was no blanket
Laugh?! We nearly shat!
We had not laughed so much since Grandma died
Or Auntie Mabel caught her left tit in the mangle
We are miserable sinners
Fi-i-ilthy fuckers
Ahhhrrrr-soles
(Dudley Moore, 1977)
posted by kindall at 4:51 PM on July 27, 2006 [3 favorites]
I've never heard it used or seen it online until now. I'll probably start seeing it everywhere now....
posted by Mr. Gunn at 4:58 PM on July 27, 2006
posted by Mr. Gunn at 4:58 PM on July 27, 2006
kindall: Well spotted. I should have remembered that's where it was from.
cortex: That song is from a Derek & Clive record. "Derek & Clive" was an excuse for British comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore to get very drunk and spout obscenities on record.
posted by beniamino at 5:07 PM on July 27, 2006
cortex: That song is from a Derek & Clive record. "Derek & Clive" was an excuse for British comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore to get very drunk and spout obscenities on record.
posted by beniamino at 5:07 PM on July 27, 2006
Further to the scrubs incident, apparently it was ad-libbed and Zach Braff had to bite hard on the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
posted by tomble at 6:16 PM on July 27, 2006
posted by tomble at 6:16 PM on July 27, 2006
I believe Scrubs took it from Family Guy. Quagmire, in the retirement home, said "I think I just pooped a little," during some semi-excited conversation.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 8:56 PM on July 27, 2006
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 8:56 PM on July 27, 2006
Response by poster: Go go pop-culture etymology squad! I'm not sure if I'll ever get a definitive answer, but it's nice to see there are some clear pop references to explain it.
posted by cortex at 12:36 PM on July 28, 2006
posted by cortex at 12:36 PM on July 28, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
1. Expression of fright, as in describing the reaction to a horror film: "It wasn't that scary. Well, okay, I did poop a little when scene foo happened...
2. Anthropomorphic narratives "authored" by pets, as on various blogs: "I woke up from my nap, ate some kibble, and I pooped a little on Mommy's favorite sweater."
The first is terror, not mirth, even if there is shared semantic component of surprise with the expression I'm examining. The phrase "I crapped my pants" is familiar and seems to have been around for a while.
The second is, literally, pooping as a natural pasttime.
posted by cortex at 4:32 PM on July 27, 2006