Etymology Journal ยท W
What crawled up your butt and died?
Meaning
- A crude way of asking why someone is in a bad mood or being particularly prickly. It suggests that their sour attitude has no logical cause.
Crude, sassy
Used in a sentence
- You have been snappy all morning. What crawled up your butt and died?
- Stop growling at everyone. What crawled up your butt and died?
- She was silent all through dinner. I wanted to ask what crawled up her butt and died.
The backstory
This is a vulgar Americanism that likely gained traction in the mid-20th century. The imagery of something unpleasant and dead stuck in one's anatomy perfectly captures the annoyance felt toward a grumpy person.
Heard in
Nationwide
Vibe check