"And, upon deeper examination, it seems the the author has a false understanding of why ""shit"" is used in those situations. For instance, ""Shit can comfortably stand in for the terms bad and anything in many instances (Dinner was good, but the movie was shit. You're all mad at me, but I didn't do shit!)."" indicates that shit is a substitute for ""anything"" but it is not. That saying is meant to imply, again, that the person saying it has done nothing wrong. The key is that ""shit"" is give a value of zero and that value; ie nothing, is what shit is replacing. It's a matter of understanding context. One can read this article and think that the ways ""shit"" is used are totally nonsensical, but it is a practical usage of the term. And, for the record, I don't mean to stir up trouble for people. I just have no issue with the word. "