Sheeeeee-it

About

Sheeeee-it is a catchphrase popularized by actor Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Whitlock first used the term in the film The 25th Hour, but became culturally associated with it through repeated use in the HBO TV series The Wire. The phrase would inspire several remixes, jokes and videos throughout the 2000s, leading into the 2010s.

h2.Origin

According to a 2008 interview with Isiah Whitlock, Jr.,^[1] he adopted the unusual way of delivering the word "shit" from an uncle, and would use it regularly in conversation.

He first used the delivery onscreen in the 2002 film The 25th Hour (below), as he is arresting Edward Norton's character Monty Brogan. According to Whitlock, the film's director, Spike Lee, encouraged him to use the delivery onscreen after having heard him use it in conversation.^[1]

The word itself started appearing in 2003, with UrbanDictionary entries for several different spellings appearing throughout the year, including "sheeee-it",^[2] "sheeeeeeeit",^[3] "sheeet"^[4] and "sheeeit".^[5]

Whitlock's first use of the word was in Season 3, Episode 6, titled "Homecoming", which first aired October 31st, 2004. By season 4, including the clip below, the word was specifically being written into the script for Whitlock's character to read as "sheee-it".^[6]

Spread

The word gained popularity and quickly became associated with Whitlock's character Clay Davis. Slate^[7] referred to the character and his catchphrase as one of the most memorable elements of the show in a 2007 fall TV preview. The phrase also caught on as a general catchphrase with Metafilter^[8] using it as their response to The Wire's cancellation.

The word was also used as the source for memes. On November 29th 2007, a YTMND^[9] was created using a clip of Whitlock in The 25th Hour, by YTMND user Kefka. Multiple other YTMNDs would be created using clips of Whitlock, including "Clay Davis sparking"^[10] by YTMND user petkow, which loops the sound to resemble the noise of an electric current. The YTMND has over 20,000 views as of 2021.

Starting in 2007, the word became widely used on YouTube. In 2007, YouTuber Linguica posted a video (below) of Clay Davis saying "sheeeeee-it" stretched out for the entire length of a scene. As of 2021, the video has over 1.1 million views.

In 2009, YouTuber Scottsinthehouse created a drum and bass remix of the phrase (below). As of 2021, the YouTube video has over 27,000 views.

In 2015, Whitlock started selling branded merchandise featuring the phrase, from the website "sheeeeeeeeeit.com".^[11] He announced this with a commercial that has over 130,000 views on YouTube as of 2021.

Sheeeit/Tyrone

In 2012, an MS Paint meme template inspired by rage comics began circulating on the 4chan board /pol/, featuring an offensive caricature of a black man saying the phrase.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References