shat the bed
Blew it badly
Shat the bed means failed spectacularly or made a catastrophic mistake.
The image is of losing bowel control while sleeping—an involuntary, humiliating disaster.
Used for situations where something goes badly wrong: The server shat the bed right before the product launch.
Past tense of the cruder "shit the bed."
- drop the ballFail at a critical moment
- mess upDo badly, err
- chokeObstruct breathing or airflow
- cock upBritish term for mistake
- balls upSpoils through incompetence
blunder · crash and burn · face plant · humiliation · fallout · blow it · mishap · mortification · egg on face · lose face · screw-up · disaster · total disaster · aftermath · catastrophe · mattress · fiasco · bite the dust
performance outcome
shat the bednailed it
Succeeded completely, emphatically
crushed it · killed it · aced it · rose to the occasion · smashed it
shit, bed, beds, bedded, bedding, bedroom, bedside, shat, shitting