English

Verb

hit the fan ‎(third-person singular simple present hits the fan, present participle hitting the fan, simple past and past participle hit the fan)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To have a dramatic, usually negative, effect.

   They were just clowning around, when suddenly it all hit the fan.

   Then the **** really hit the fan.

   • 2004 December 2, Neal Cavuto, “Interview With Jeff Flake”, in (Please provide the title of the work):

     Let me ask you, Congressman, the case of a lot of these corporate scandals, I followed enough of them to know how -- how it works out. Once everything starts hitting the fan, the CEO, the chairman or maybe a large share of the board of directors simply leaves, resigns

Usage notes

• Use with other subjects than **** is probably intended to evoke the image without actually saying the taboo (in some contexts) word.

Related terms

• when the **** hits the fan