Rap slang shiznit (great, cool)--Residual uncertainty

[Kathleen E. Miller]

When I was in high school in the late 80's "That's the shit!" was
frequently used to mean "It's the greatest thing ever!" The THE is very
important in the construction.  Can't forget the THE.

Kathleen E. Miller
Research Assistant to William Safire
The New York Times

At 09:35 AM 2/4/2004 -0600, you wrote:
>Many thanks for the clarification  on "shiznit" (i.e., remove "izn").
>But how does the concept "excrement" come to express "great, cool,
>fantastic"?
>What am I missing here?
>
>Gerald Cohen