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The expression to nail something usually means to "to achieve something or do something right". (informal)

The expression "the sh*t out of" is used to "emphasize the degree of force of an action that you are describing" (Cambridge)

I was wondering if it sounded natural to native speakers to say, "nail the sh*t out of something", essentially mixing the two expressions to sound more emphatic, as in:

She nailed the shit out of the chorus

he nailed the shit out of writing that piece of code.

Fermichem
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    You can say what you want. Would other native speakers say this? I doubt it very much. "He nailed it" is an expression on its own – mplungjan Dec 06 '17 at 13:50
  • Normally "the shit out of" is used to describe a violent act. The hoodlums beat the shit out of the shop owner and stole all the money from the cash register. You won't hear it on the evening news. – TimR Dec 06 '17 at 13:53
  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo Scare the shit out of is also used not to mention Sam Smith promises 'sing the sh*t out of the next 2 years' at comeback ... in the Metro news – mplungjan Dec 06 '17 at 13:55
  • beat the shit out of and scare the shit out of have been around for quite a long time, since the 1950s at least; but sing the shit out of is a more recent collocation. – TimR Dec 06 '17 at 14:01
  • Related: “(Noun) the sh*t out of this” — What nouns work? – ColleenV Dec 06 '17 at 14:01
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    I suppose that's today's teen slang. It's a fairly recent thing to use {verb} the shit out of to mean "did a really great job {verb-ing}" – TimR Dec 06 '17 at 14:02
  • It seems to me you'd be conflating two idioms to use it that way. – TimR Dec 06 '17 at 14:06
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    @ShahabSamkan - you cannot get a straight answer to your question. To me it reads really annoying and not a clever or funny version of "nailing it" but yes, you are free to say it and most English native speakers and some non-natives would understand the marriage between two expressions - it does not mean it will sound good. It is syntactically sound. – mplungjan Dec 06 '17 at 14:07
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    @ShahabSamkan - You don't like this website? That's okay, I don't like your attitude. We don't exist to serve you, we don't get paid to do this; answers and comments on ELL are given freely by helpful people out of their own goodwill. You are free to find somewhere else to ask your questions if you don't like the service you get here. You won't be missed. By the way, did you ever think that one reason it's so hard to get a straight answer is because English rules are so flexible? Maybe it's not a community problem, maybe your beef is really with the language. – J.R. Dec 06 '17 at 15:26
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    While you could say this, some listeners might think you're trying to make a sexual allusion. The verb "to nail" is well-known slang for having sex with someone (particularly if it's a man doing the "nailing"), and the idiom "to fuck the shit out of" is also well-known. This could result in significant misinterpretations of your meaning. – Canadian Yankee Dec 06 '17 at 15:28
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    @Shahab - If you’re getting info that you already know in comments, that usually means you haven’t shared enough of what you know in your question. (We sometimes call this “prior research” or simply “details” – more on that here.) I urge you to read your question as if you’re reading it for the first time – how easy would it be for anyone to discern what you already realize, and what you want more help with? There is no background or motivation provided! As for liking the website, you have a funny way of sharing that (this website sucks?) – J.R. Dec 07 '17 at 10:43

1 Answers1

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I would say that you can't.

When using to nail something, it is always structured like:

I nailed that solo.

Here nailed is the verb, while I and solo are respectively subject and object.

Using verbing the shit out of something results in the following structure:

You scared the shit out of me.

Here scared is the verb, thus emphasizing the scaring.

So saying that you nailed the shit out of something would be the same as saying that you did a great job nailing something.

Lars Mekes
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