1. When the critical moment occurs, usually involves the culmination of some sort of crisis or scandal.

2. When shit is literally slung into a fan. (See the movie Airplane.)
When your wife finds out, the shit's gonna hit the fan.
by Stroll August 23, 2004
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When things get chaotic or uncontrolable, shit has hit the fan.
3,000 people were waiting for the movie 7 hours before it opened. When it was announced that the movie would not be showing, 50 chimps on motorcycles parachuted down from the sky. The monkeys pulled out assorted automatic assault weapons and then the shit hit the fan.
by John_the_WOTist May 16, 2003
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An idiomatic expression used to convey that something disastrous has occured.
The moment I saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center, I knew that shit had hit the fan.
by Brian T November 26, 2003
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A term used when a situation goes from bad to worse. (When there is shit that stinks...thas bad. When shit hits a running fan, flings it all over the place, and spreads the wafting stank...thas WORSE!).
We were fuckin last night, right? An I yell out, 'KIM!!!' Her name was Krysta...and after that, THE SHIT HIT THE FAN.
by Joshiro007 February 13, 2003
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The situation where a recent catastrophe is further complicated by some application of Murphy's Law or further revelations. Taken from the mental image of the "fragrant and pictorial" mess that excrement would make if it came into contact with the blades of a fan...
It was bad enough when they caught him rolling in the hay with a girl, but the shit really hit the fan when it was reported that she was underage.
by The Eternal Grunt January 30, 2004
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The toilet in the 1970's space station "Skylab" had a suction fan and a safety belt to strap yourself down with in zero gravity.

Zero gravity would cause the faeces to float all over the place disasterously so there was airflow to suck the faeces into a bag, a bit like a vacuum cleaner does. Now, if the bag broke somehow, then the "Shit hit the fan!!".
by Marcus Rosenblat January 7, 2007
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When something bad is found out and the consequences start to happen.
"I didn't think she'd find out, until Bob told her about it, then the shit hit the fan".
by yomamas_bin_slobbin April 12, 2009
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