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

[Laurence Horn]

>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

cf. also "That's da bomb!", which has also been around awhile.  In
fact, my undergraduates sometimes include "the shit" in their New
Words List, and gloss it as "the bomb" or "da bomb", which suggests
that the former may be regionally restricted.

larry

>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