diarrhoea vs the shits

diarrhoea and the shits both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
diarrhoea	Yes	No	No	No
the shits	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, the shits is a hyponym of diarrhoea; that is, the shits is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than diarrhoea:

diarrhoea: frequent and watery bowel movements; can be a symptom of infection or food poisoning or colitis or a gastrointestinal tumor
the shits: obscene terms for diarrhea

Other hyponyms of diarrhoea include the trots, Montezuma's revenge.

diarrhoea (noun)	the shits (noun)
frequent and watery bowel movements; can be a symptom of infection or food poisoning or colitis or a gastrointestinal tumor	obscene terms for diarrhea