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Chris -- 2025-05-10
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OK, I only came across this once in raw copy from a writer: “He had a self-defecating smile.” I couldn’t help thinking that “self-defecating smile” was some kind of funny reformation of “self-deprecating smile” and “shit-eating grin.” I’m sure it’s not widespread … but it was a good day when that came across my desk.
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This is something of a classic round these parts. See the Craig C. Clarke post here: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=1799
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Hee-Hee-Hee! Back in the Dark Ages, 1970s, my roommate Bruce Isaacs, from Kentucky, used the expression, “A Shit-Eatin’ Grin.” (Approximately equals “Self-Defecating Smile,” no?) Hilarious, yes, and also an exotic Southern-USA colloquialism to my Northern ears.
I never figured it out until a few years ago, when I adopted a full-blooded country Beagle, who sniffs out and eats poop from all species, whenever she is in the mood. Then she smiles up at me with a Shit-Eatin’ Grin.
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Ah! I am kind of shocked at its prevalence. Well! Now I know how to make sure I don’t start a new thread on an old topic …
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