Built Like A Brick Shithouse - Idioms Online

Meaning of Built Like a Brick Shithouse

To be built like a brick shithouse is an English idiom used to describe a person with an exceptionally solid, powerful, or impressive physique. While it refers to a muscular and sturdy build in men, it typically describes a shapely and curvaceous figure when applied to women. Despite the vulgar literal reference, it is almost always intended as a compliment.

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What is a Brick Shithouse?

A shithouse is a vulgar name for an outhouse, a building used to cover an outdoor latrine or toilet, something rarely seen today due to the widespread availability of indoor plumbing and modern toilets. Most outhouses were ramshackle buildings or mere sheds, built poorly and of cheap or scrap materials. Therefore, a “brick shithouse” would be one that was exceptionally well-built, thus the simile in the idiom “built like a brick shithouse.”

Can Built Like a Brick Shithouse Refer to a Woman?

Many sources insist that the phrase was always applied to a man. This is incorrect. Not only can the idiom refer to a female, but at its height in North America, the expression was most often applied to women. For example: “His ex-girlfriend had a terrible personality, but she was built like a brick shithouse.”

This usage confuses many who cannot imagine how it could be a compliment to refer to a woman as being similar to a “shithouse.” Like many idioms, it does not need to make literal sense to those who use it, but the origin below explains the figurative allusion.

In the American South, the expression was often embellished, e.g. “Built like a brick shithouse with hot and cold running water.”

In the U.K., the idiom was almost exclusively applied to men.

Why is Such a Vulgar Idiom Applied to Both Men and Women?

When a man is “well-built,” it usually means he is large and muscular. When a woman is well-built, it means she is shapely. In either case, despite the disgusting reference, the expression is meant as a compliment.

💃 Pro-Tip: While built like a brick shithouse focuses on a solid or muscular physique, the related idiom to be a 10 focuses purely on physical beauty or perfection on a 1-to-10 scale.

Origin of Built Like a Brick Shithouse

A “shithouse,” or in Australia, a dunny, is an outhouse used for urinating and defecating. These buildings, used before indoor plumbing was common, covered one or more toilets, which were usually nothing more than holes or “latrines” dug in the ground.

The buildings were usually built cheaply out of odd bits of wood and were meant to be easy to move once the hole was filled with waste. An outhouse built out of brick, therefore, would be one that was much more well-built than usual, hence the allusion in the idiom.

So, to be built like a brick shithouse is to be better built (in terms of physique or figure) than usual. The intention behind the expression changes based on whether it is used to describe a man or a woman.

The expression is rarely heard today, probably because of social mores and its offensive vulgarity, but it originated as early as the 1930s and was quite common until the 1960s.

• 1930s-40s: Emergence as rural slang.
• 1956: Adopted by the “Beat” generation (Allen Ginsberg).
• 1969: Appears in mainstream fiction (The Miscreant).
• 1977: Transformed into pop-culture icon status by The Commodores.

Literary Note: Even the “Beat” poets used the phrase. Allen Ginsberg famously defended the structure of his 1956 poem Howl against critics who called it formless, stating, “The poem is really built like a brick shithouse.” He was using the idiom to emphasize that, unlike his earlier work, Howl had a rock-solid, intentional foundation.

Sentence Examples

“Did you see that woman?” asked Denny. “Talk about built like a brick shithouse!”

“You know that girl I was trying to pick up last night? Turns out she has a boyfriend. The guy was built like a brick shithouse. He looked like he could break me in half.”

“You can’t miss me, pal. I’m blonde, about 5’7″. Built like a brick shithouse.” — Switch (1991)

“I bet you gotta fight ’em off.” “No, I’ve given up the fight.” “You? Come on. You’re built like a brick shithouse!” — Jacknife (1989)

“She’s wearing a grey hoody, jeans, and she’s built like a brick shithouse.” — Scott & Bailey: Episode #2.1 (2012)

“He’s a dainty little thing. His dad, Billy, he was… he was built like a bloody brick shithouse. He had shoulders on him like I’ve never seen.” — Call the Midwife: Episode #1.6 (2012)

Brick House by the Commodores

The iconic Commodores’ song “Brick House” was based on the idiom, with the vulgar part taken out.

She’s a Brick House Meaning

There is no such idiom as ‘built like a brickhouse’ or, as the song says ‘she’s a brick house.’ However, the allusion is the same and the song is about a shapely, or “solidly built” woman. She’s a brick house means the same as ‘she’s built like a brick shithouse.’ Read more about the history of the song.

Similar Idioms and Phrases

• To Be a 10: to be the best looking on a scale of 1 to 10; very attractive; exceptionally gorgeous; a perfect woman in terms of looks.
• A Sight for Sore Eyes: something or someone that is extremely pleasant or comforting to look at, especially after a long period of exhaustion or discomfort.
• Drop-dead Gorgeous: Extremely beautiful; breathtaking (of a woman).
• Dressed to kill: Wearing fancy and stylish clothing, especially when it’s done to attract sexual attention.
• Pretty as a Picture: Very attractive; having picturesque beauty.
• Look like a Million Dollars/Bucks: To be exceptionally well-dressed and groomed; to look healthy, attractive, and stylish.
• Takes One’s Breath Away: Breathtaking; so beautiful or attractive that one is awestruck.
• To Look Out of This World: To look amazing, superb, excellent.
• Look Out of Sight (a synonym for out of this world): amazing, superb, exceptional, etc.