Shut up is a rude way of telling someone to stop talking. People say it in an argument or when they are very annoyed, and the other person will almost certainly be offended. To ask for quiet politely, say: Could you be quiet, please? If you just need people to talk more quietly, Could you keep it down? works well.
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Shut up!; shut + someone + up; shut up about + topic; never shut up
- My brother told me to shut up, and we didn't speak for the rest of the evening.
- Once he starts talking about cryptocurrency, he never shuts up about it.
- Sorry, I'll shut up now and let you finish your story.
What changed
First versionCould you shut up, please? I'm on the phone with a client.
RevisionCould you be quiet, please? I'm on the phone with a client.
It may seem that adding “please” makes “shut up” polite. But a polite frame does not remove the rudeness: Could you shut up, please? sounds like an irritated “Will you just shut up?” That is why the corrected sentence uses “be quiet”.
Not every “shut up” is an insult. Said about yourself, it sounds harmless and even funny: OK, I'll shut up and listen. About someone else, He never shuts up about his car means “he talks about nothing but his car”: informal and mocking, but not rude to anyone's face. And between friends, Shut up! sometimes means “No way! I don't believe it!”: Shut up! You got the job?
Your turn
The students in the library were chatting loudly, so the librarian politely asked them to ___.
Show the answer
be quiet — The sentence says “politely”, and the polite way to ask for quiet is “be quiet”. “Shut up” is rude, and a librarian who wants to stay polite would not say it.
Write about someone you know who talks about the same topic all the time. Say who they are and what they keep talking about.
My colleague Dan never shuts up about his new diet, even during lunch.
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