Shut Your Pie Hole Meaning
Definition: Shut up.
This expression is common in the U.S. In the U.K. there is a variation: shut your cake hole.
Origin of Shut Your Pie Hole
Shut your cake hole came first, and appeared around the mid-1900s. Some speculate it originated in the British air force since an early reference of it was printed in Hunt and Pringle’s 1943 reference book Service Slang.
- Cake hole, the airman’s name for his or anyone else’s mouth.
The American phrase shut your pie hole, however, originated in the 1980s.
It most likely comes from the fact that shut your mouth means be quiet, and a mouth is a hole with which you can eat pie or cake.
Examples of Shut Your Pie Hole
This example shows two coworkers who are complaining about each other.
Regina: Ginny, I don’t like complaining, but I think you should work a little harder on this project.
Ginny: What are you talking about? I’m working just as hard, if not harder, than you!
Regina: Yeah, I respectfully disagree. You take too many breaks.
Ginny: I have a medical condition that requires me to eat small snacks throughout the day. Whatever I don’t get done at work, I take home and finish there. Anyway, you take more breaks than I do to go outside and smoke, so shut your pie hole!
Regina: Hey, there’s no need to be rude!
Ginny: Well, you started it.
Regina: You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just stressed.
In this example, two friends are talking about a fight one of them had with his sister.
Kevin: I got into another fight with my sister.
Steve: What happened?
Kevin: My sister told me that I’m a lazy slob who should be ashamed of himself.
Steve: That’s not true. That was very rude of her. What did you say?
Kevin: I couldn’t think of anything to say. I was too angry to think clearly, so I just yelled at her to shut her pie hole. I shouldn’t have been so mean.
Steve: She deserved it.
More Examples
This excerpt is from a TV episode recap.
- I picture unemployed Will railing at the TV set day after day while little Nepotisha sits, ignored, in a baby carrier. Prediction of the kid’s first words: “Hey, pal, you want to shut your pie hole? I’m trying to sleep here.” –New York Times
This excerpt is about a coach who is angry at another person in the sports industry. The coach thinks his former boss is a hypocrite, and therefore should stop talking.
- Van Gundy has a message for his former boss: Shut your pie hole. –USA Today
Summary
The phrase shut your pie hole is a rude way to order someone to be quiet.
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