hit the fan

hit the fan

To become more of a problem or more widespread or publicized. Once this scandal hits the fan, all of our investors are liable to pull out of the company.
See also: fan, hit
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

hit the fan

Inf. Fig. to become publicly known; to become a scandal. (From the phrase when the shit hit the fan.) I wasn't even in the country when it hit the fan. It hit the fan, and within ten minutes the press had spread it all over the world.
See also: fan, hit
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

hit the fan

tv. to become publicly known; to become a scandal. (From the phrase when the shit hit the fan.) It hit the fan, and within ten minutes the press had spread it all over the world.
See also: fan, hit
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

hit the fan

Slang
To have serious, usually adverse consequences.
See also: fan, hit
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • become
  • fan out
  • from here on
  • from here on in
  • from here on out
  • become a fan of (someone or something)
  • hyped (up)
  • there for everyone to see
  • SHTF
References in periodicals archive
The alternative weekly San Diego Reader said 25,000 copies of "Night & Day" hit the street before the stuff hit the fan, halting the presses.
Tangled up in Blue
The pink lunchmeat apparently failed to hit the fan on Friday December 4, when representatives of the internet anti-spam community met with leaders of the Direct Marketing Association.
ANTI-SPAMMERS MEET DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION
Neither Stella nor Guberman tells us what hit the fan when Frank, Jr., told Frank, Sr., that he'd bagged law school to paint.
Frank Stella: An Illustrated Biography
Since the Euro hit the fan, I can't recall a single voice from that vociferous brigade offering an explanation for their sudden silence.
Moving to a single state; YourSay
One witness said the Tongan hit the fan, an airport worker, with his forearm after the man repeatedly chanted "Come on, England".
Rugby Union: Tongan star attacks fan
Woods looked as though he would threaten leader Kenny Perry until he pulled his drive so badly on the 18th that it hit the fan and he ended up with a bogey that left him five strokes off the pace.
Golf: WAYWARD WOODS