Shit or get off the pot

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"Shit or get off the pot" is a common English language colloquial expression, used to imply a person should follow up their stated intentions, with action. It is also used to urge someone to complete a task with a greater degree of efficiency or timeliness than is observed at the time the expression is used.

Derivation

It may derive from the time before indoor plumbing when a chamber pot was used for defecation. The expression, in this way, is essentially instruction for someone to stop being indecisive or procrastinating, and act. Stuart Flexner, author of "I Hear America Talking", states that it is a vulgar rephrasing of the old New England expression "fish or cut bait"[1].

1. ^ http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/137650.html

Famous Uses

• Richard Nixon reportedly used the phrase while berating Dwight Eisenhower to put Nixon on his presidential ticket.

Uses in popular culture

• In the 1994 film Clerks., Randal uses the phrase to tell his friend Dante to make a decision regarding his present situation.
• In the 1999 film "Detroit Rock City" a scalper uses the phrase to tell Hawk to earn the money he needs to buy a ticket from him.
• In the 1999 film The Bachelor, Jimmie uses the phrase when asking Anne to marry him.
• In the episode Local Ad of the US TV series The Office, Meredith uses the phrase "piss or get off the pot" to tell Jim to hurry up.