Phrases & SayingsCrime, prison and the underworld
doing it on the shit tub
Serving a sentence with defiant ease; historical prison expression.
In a sentence
The glossary records the defiant phrase doing it on the shit tub.
Where it came from
Refers to the sanitary bucket used in an unsewered cell, turning degradation into a defiant image. A more graphic counterpart to doing it on your head, expressing that the prisoner was surviving the sentence on his own terms.
- First recorded
- 1972
- Initial era
- 1950–1999
- Where used
- Parramatta Jail, NSW
- Use today
- Historical Parramatta Jail usage; later/current currency not established