Is the expression Get shed of or get shut of?

Question

Recently, in comments, I noticed someone used the phrase get shut of meaning to be done with.
I've always understood the phrase to be get shed of with the same meaning.

He was happy to get shut of his annoying little brother.
He was happy to get shed of his annoying little brother.

TFD lists shed of as an idiom. It also lists shut of giving identical examples of usage.
And, Google searches return multiple hits, but seem to prefer shut of.
The expression seems to be more prevalent in BrE. One site even suggested that get shot of is becoming an Americanism.
Is this usage of shut as an adjective prevalent in BrE to mean rid of?  Or is it an archaic usage only persistent in this expression?
I don't see an adjective listed for shed in the same way. But, we use it adjectivally:

He collected the shed scales of his pet snake.

This is the ngram result (thanks Hot Licks for pointing out my error in running it the first time).

user 66974 · Answer

According to the Phrase Finder, “get shut of” meaning get rid of is an obsolete expression:

To get shut of something  does seem to be a rather old expression, and more a dialectal than a mainstream one, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, which I quote with all its citations.

From the OED:

" 11. a. To set (a person) free from, relieve of (something troublesome). Obs[olete] exc[ept] in passive (dial. and colloq.) to be, get shut of, (dial.) shut on, to shut one's hands of: to be rid of, free from; also ellipt[ical].
  
  ?a1500 Chester Pl. II. 31 Though he have healed thee, Shute from us shall he not be. Ibid. 33 To shutte hym of his dangere. 
  
  1575-6 Durham Depos. (Surtees) 312 This examinate promised..that he
  
  wold marye the said Grace..so that he might be shutt of the promiseshe hadd maid to one Marian Raic. 
  
  1737 WHISTON Josephus, Antiq. XIV. i. 3 His own life would be in danger, unless he..got shut of Aristobulus. 1827 J. F. COOPER Prairie
  
  1848 MRS. GASKELL Mary Barton I. v. 68 As for a bad man, one's glad enough
  
  1914 D. H. LAWRENCE Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd III. 84 Who dost think wor
  
  1976 S. BARSTOW Right True End I. iv. 65 'I haven't got her.' 'You're well shut, from all I hear.'"

Rob Lee · Answer

I have heard what I take to be archaic English expressions in the rural South USA. One example is "get shed of" , which I first heard in rural Alabama circa 1974 (having just moved there). This sort of preservation of archaic or dialectal forms in "outlying" areas is well attested. I recently heard "get shut of" on some medium of communication and asked myself whether the s-word variations ( shed, shut, shot) were born of mis-hearing.

Answered by Rob Lee on May 22, 2021

Gail McCarthy · Answer

My grandfather in Western Kentucky always said 'get shed of that... '.  He had a few of those old terms.  His ancestry was Welsh Irish Scottish.  Another one was 'drene the water out of it'.

Elizabeth Martinez · Answer

The "shut" origin makes sense. There good many southern dialect words in which the short U sound changes to a short e. Besides SHUT-SHET, there are BRUSH-BRESH, and TOUCH-TETCH (as in "tetched in the head"). Linguists would have a name for that vowel-sound shift, I suppose.
Of course, our American T pronunciation being as it is, "Get shet of" would sound indistinguishable from "Get shed of." (Think, for example of the middle consonant sound of  "city" and "giddy," "lady" and "Katy").

Is the expression Get shed of or get shut of?

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