shi-shi

n. urine or urination. Also make shi-shi or go shi-shi ‘to urinate.’ Subjects: Hawaii, Japanese

Editorial Note: Reduplicated shi, from the Japanese shiko ‘urine.’ Also imitative of the sound of streaming water. A similar expression occurs in Portuguese, according to the Dictionary of Informal Brazilian Portuguese (1983, Georgetown University Press). In that language, fazer xixi is colloquial for “to urinate; to go wee-wee.” The xixi ‘urine; pee-pee’ is pronounced “SHEE-shee.”

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Citations: 1992 [Maiko Covington] Usenet: soc.culture.japan (Nov. 17) “Re: Hayari Kotoba (Fad Expressions)”: In Hawaii there is a similar thing. When people (esp. old women) have to go to the bathroom they will say “I gotta five-four-four.” Say “5-4-4” in Japanese and it’s “go shi-shi.” 1995 Kathleen Tyau A Little Too Much Is Enough (July 1) p. 42: One day while we were playing in the empty lot next to the sugar-cane fields, I saw Bobby make shi-shi behind a boulder. 2002 Perry Miyake 21st Century Manzanar (Mar.) p. 32: You gotta go shi-shi, honey? Better go benjo now, you might not get another chance. 2002 Jocko Weyland The Answer Is Never (Sept. 1) p. 224: In the cell next to mine, a husky Samoan girl yelled abuse at the cops, demanding to be taken to the hospital, then informing me she had to go shi-shi (piss). 2005 McAvoy Layne Bonanza (Incline Village, Nevada) (July 15) “Joe rides with Lance for a day in France, or not”: Long about Silver City I realized I had to, “make shishi,” as they say in the Islands, so I shouted through an open window to the driver, “Yoo-hoo, excuse me, but I think I have to go shi-shi!”

Posted 26 Aug 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

My name is Shi Shi and I have been called pee pee my entire life. Thanx for bringing this wonderful fact out into the open. Have a nice day.

by Shi Shi 09 May 06, 0805 GMT

Well, at least Shi Shi now knows that the people who called her (him?) “pee pee” were being etymologically correct.

by Marcia Wyatt 10 May 06, 0852 GMT

In the Japanese language there are over 50 meanings for the word Shi-Shi none of which means to urinate, although it is commonly used in Hawaii for that very meaning. In Nihongo (Japanese Language) Shi Shi can mean anything from a Lion to an Heiress, it can even mean dismembered parts of a body, depending on how the word is used and what other words are used with it. Shi Shi can also mean “A Patriot” so as a side note the person named Shi Shi, I’m sure your name was meant as to be something fantastic and not Urine as this would suggest.

by Wayne K. 14 Jun 06, 0122 GMT

And by the way, in my up bringing the Japanese word Shiko did not mean “Urine” it meant “to conduct ones privet business” and being that using the bathroom can be considered ones privet business that word was used. But it doesn’t mean Urine.

Oh ya, some other japanese meanings for the Nihongo word Shi-Shi could be “preserverance” or “Pointing out another persons mistakes”. (so does that mean I just Shi-Shi’ed on you?.. lol..)

But I have to admit as you stated above, if you are in Hawaii and someone says they have to make Shi-Shi right now, you better find them a bathroom (or tree) real quick.

by Wayne K. 14 Jun 06, 0153 GMT

not entirely sure where the accent falls when pronouncing “shi shi,” but if remember correctly, accenting the second “shi” gives you the brazilian portuguese pronunciation (xi-XI).

is there a difference?
why do i care?

by Joseph Grizzle 19 Jun 06, 0759 GMT

I wanted to get a shi-shi tattoo (lion) but i really dont want something named after piss.

by moses 15 Jun 07, 0351 GMT

My daughter at age 6 got a kitten and insisted on naming her Shishi, which was a name she made up. We looked up the meaning afterward, and we prefer the “lion” meaning, though she likes telling her friends it means “to pee”.

by Terry 23 Feb 08, 0211 GMT

I live in Akita, Japan, but spent the first 25 years of my life in Hawaii, speaking pidgin. My coworker told me that shi shi is baby talk for urinating, as infants and younger children have not learned the proper “Oshikko shitai” (I have to urinate), which is commonly used among adults.

by Mike Nakashima 14 Mar 08, 0808 GMT

Used to be, that you’d go shi shi with your pee pee, if you’re a boy. Sometimes called a ding-a-ling.

by Gerrrg 20 Mar 08, 1021 GMT

‘Shi’ in nepali is informal word for ‘pee’; often used by kids.

Younger kids/babies say ‘Shu’ or ‘ShuShu’. In Kazak language, ‘Shu’ is ‘water’ and me and my kazak fren here love playing around with the word.

by Nabin 31 Mar 08, 0334 GMT

I am amazed at how different cultures connotate the idea of urination. I found this post both amusing and enlightening. Yesterday I heard a friend use the phrase “I have to go use the shishi”. I wasn’t sure what she meant, but now I know. :)

by Jake 10 Apr 08, 0254 GMT