'Brick Shit House'

Anybody know the etymology of this one?

Anybody know the etymology of this one?

G'day joey, and welcome aboard,

I guess it's because most of our good old outside toilets (or dunnies, as we usually know them) were/are of somewhat flimsy construction--wood, fibro cement, and so on, and were easily damaged or even knocked down, as in the old Aussie saying: "May all your chooks turn into emus and kick your dunny down!"
Thus a strong, well built man would often be referred to as "built like a brick shit house"--implying a quite unusual, in fact unique quality.

Hope this helps,

Rgds, lusy (aka "rhapsody lute " by the spell checker)

Hmm.... in the US (or at least my little part of it) the expression is used to describe women with large bosoms *delicate cough*

(rhapsody lute is great!)

Hi joey, and welcome.

Thanks, "rhapsody lute", for that lofty elucidation!
Anna, I first heard that meaning in the song by the
Commodores, early '80's.

>>Hmm.... in the US (or at least my little part of it) the expression is used to describe women with large bosoms *delicate cough*

I suspect that's pretty common throughout the US. My wife, whose maiden name is House, endured a few more than her share of jokes in high school. Most of them from envious girls whose endowments weren't as well funded.

Rhapsody Lute,

a. What's a chook?
b. Do your outhouses have little new moon cut-outs in the doors?

(ah, the joys of intellectual curiosity...)

>chook

I was pleased to discover that our beloved Merriam-Webster's covers this one!

chook

I was pleased to discover that our beloved Merriam-Webster's covers this one!

Thanks for sharing the definition (yeah, yeah, I know... ICLIU)

>ICLIU

not at all! I was leaving it for rhaplu to define for you!

Anna

< b. Do your outhouses have little new moon cut-outs in the doors?

I can't say I've ever seen one with a new moon cut-out, but some sort of peep hole is common, and I have used one where the door must have jammed shut and been kicked out in its entirety by the panic-stricken occupant. Isn't this a fascinating subject?

Seeya later,
rhaplu
(I wonder what the SChecker will make of all that?)
This spelling checker seems to have hidden depths! "panic-stricken" = "panned" (what else!), and "b." came out as Babbage, presumably he of the Calculating Engine, precursor of these little gadgets that cause us to get behind in our real work.

ah, tsuwm, I spoke too soon. But still no rhaplu definition of "chook."
Meanwhile, rhaplu, I stumbled across this 'crescent moon' link on yahoo.....http://ask.yahoo.com/19990823a.html

>This spelling checker seems to have hidden depths! "panic-stricken" = "panned" (what else!), and "b." came out as Babbage, presumably he of the Calculating Engine, precursor of these little gadgets that cause us to get behind in our real work.
*indulging in a little back-formation and wondering what I'd have to type to pull up "Turing" in the amusing SC?*

ah, tsuwm, I spoke too soon. But still no rhaplu definition of "chook."

Even though I live on what Aussies would consider to be the wrong side of the Tasman, it seems to me that the word "chooks" here is being used in its most literal sense - chickens. The idea being that your small poultry will become aggressive two metre tall dunny-destroyers. Were any extant, the NZ equivalent might be "may your kiwi become moa." Just my $0.02

"Nationalism is an infantile disease, the measles of humanity" - Albert Einstein

>wondering what I'd have to type to pull up "Turing"

well, it would have to be Turinese (a native of Turin or a dialect of Italian of that area) -- not all that inciteful this time.

>>I can't say I've ever seen one with a new moon cut-out, but some sort of peep hole is common, and I have used one where the door must have jammed shut and been kicked out in its entirety by the panic-stricken occupant. Isn't this a fascinating subject?

My goodness, are we to understand that you have given the
world a whole new meaning for "new moon"???

Anna,

But still no rhaplu definition of "chook."

Yeah, well, I mean, chooks is just chooks aint they? Like Max says.

BTW, tsuwm was of course right, Turinese does in fact produce Turing. I wonder who else of like persuasion is lurking in the depths of this devious spell checker?

Cheers, rhaplu

PS (edited) And neumaan produced Neumann. Heck, they must all be in there!