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I found a web site called http://shitformakingwebsites.com/ to find excellent-quality materials for work.

I started wondering why "sh*t" can be used so positively here. I have a similar question about "nigga".

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    Not to mention Badass. It's often the case that groups hostile to other social groups that condemn them use the words of condemnation themselves as ingroup solidarity markers. Perfectly normal development. Commented Jul 10, 2013 at 16:51
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    See also here. Commented Jul 10, 2013 at 19:02
  • @JohnLawler I would've thought that bad (meaning good) and 'ass constructions' (yikes - things like nice-ass car) both predate badass ... I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but it's probably a different question-post.
    – hunter2
    Commented Jul 11, 2013 at 9:51

3 Answers 3

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Cheech and Chong used the term "Good Shit" in their drug move "Up in Smoke" (1978). The usage in drug subculture predates that. Good shit goes back to the early 1950's w respect to heroin quality: new Partridge dictionary of slang and unconventional English

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While the info about solidarity markers and bollocks is true and relevant to the long-since-completed meaning acquisition, I think in the case of "shit for making websites," it's simply a matter of the shit being used to mean stuff. At the risk of wielding too sharp a razor, don't think it's any more complicated than that.

For the "nigga" question, consider John Lawler's solidarity comment and the discussion at Brian Hooper's link.

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Words often change their meaning, particularly slang. See for example this question.

Routledge

The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English (2013) has 14 definitions for the noun shit, the first three being marijuana (1946), heroin (1950), and narcotics/drugs in general (1967).

The earliest quotation using good shit is about heroin:

It's good shit, not like some of the stuff we've been getting lately. -- Alexander Trocchi, Cain's Book, p. 9, 1960

The next three definitions show its use becoming even more generalised: things/possessions (1969), anything at all (1995), et cetera (1999). All these seven are US.

Oxford

The Oxford English Dictionary lumps the drugs definitions together:

5. Any of several intoxicating or narcotic drugs, spec. heroin or marijuana.
Used with reference to a specific drug, according to context, not in relation to drugs in general.

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