An Interesting Fact

[Ron]

An interesting fact Manure : In the 16th and 17th centuries,  everything had to be transported by ship and it was also before the invention of commercial fertilizers, so large shipments of manure were quite common. It was shipped dry, because in dry form it  weighed a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, not only did it become heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by product is methane gas of course. As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles you can see what could (and did) happen. Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM! Several ships were destroyed in this  manner before it was determined just what was happening After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the instruction ' Stow high in transit ' on them, which meant for the sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane. Thus evolved the term ' S.H.I.T ', (Stow  High In Transit) which has come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day. You probably didn't know the true history of this word. Neither did I. I had always thought it was a golfing term.

[timnowvapes]

Netlore Archive: In which we are told, and with a straight face, that the word 's h i t' originated as the acronym of 'Ship High in Transit,' a supposed nautical phrase.

Description: Joke / Folk etymology
Circulating since: 1999

Analysis: Clever as all that may be, whoever came up with it doesn't know shit about "shit."


According to the dictionary, the word is much older than the 1800s, appearing in its earliest form about 1,000 years ago as the Old English verb scitan. That is confirmed by lexicographer Hugh Rawson in his bawdily edifying book, Wicked Words (New York: Crown, 1989), where it is further noted that the expletive is distantly related to words like science, schedule and shield, all of which derive from the Indo-European root skei-, meaning "to cut" or "to split." You get the idea.

For most of its history "shit" was spelled "shite" (and sometimes still is), but the modern, four-letter spelling of the word can be found in texts dating as far back as the mid-1700s. It most certainly did not originate as an acronym used by 19th-century sailors.

Apropos that false premise, Rawson observes that "shit" has long been the subject of naughty wordplay, very often based on made-up acronyms on the order of "Ship High in Transit." For example:
In the Army, officers who did not go to West Point have been known to disparage the military academy as the South Hudson Institute of Technology.... And if an angelic six-year-old asks, "Would you like to have some Sugar Honey Iced Tea?", the safest course is to pretend that you have suddenly gone stone deaf.

Lastly, all these stories are reminiscent of another popular specimen of folk etymology claiming that the F-word (another good old-fashioned, all-purpose, four-letter expletive) originated as the acronym of "Fornication Under Consent of the King" (or, in another version, "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge").

Suffice it to say, it's all C.R.A.P.

[chrisjw]

Well, in all honesty & to be quite frank ( if you don't mind me calling you frank, that is ), I don't really give a s**t.........

[kibbster]

Was a good story though, I can see why it would be believed

[MarkS]

Feb 22, 2013 2:12:46 GMT timnowvapes said:

Netlore Archive: In which we are told, and with a straight face, that the word 's h i t' originated as the acronym of 'Ship High in Transit,' a supposed nautical phrase.

Description: Joke / Folk etymology
Circulating since: 1999

Analysis: Clever as all that may be, whoever came up with it doesn't know shit about "shit."


According to the dictionary, the word is much older than the 1800s, appearing in its earliest form about 1,000 years ago as the Old English verb scitan. That is confirmed by lexicographer Hugh Rawson in his bawdily edifying book, Wicked Words (New York: Crown, 1989), where it is further noted that the expletive is distantly related to words like science, schedule and shield, all of which derive from the Indo-European root skei-, meaning "to cut" or "to split." You get the idea.

For most of its history "shit" was spelled "shite" (and sometimes still is), but the modern, four-letter spelling of the word can be found in texts dating as far back as the mid-1700s. It most certainly did not originate as an acronym used by 19th-century sailors.

Apropos that false premise, Rawson observes that "shit" has long been the subject of naughty wordplay, very often based on made-up acronyms on the order of "Ship High in Transit." For example:
In the Army, officers who did not go to West Point have been known to disparage the military academy as the South Hudson Institute of Technology.... And if an angelic six-year-old asks, "Would you like to have some Sugar Honey Iced Tea?", the safest course is to pretend that you have suddenly gone stone deaf.

Lastly, all these stories are reminiscent of another popular specimen of folk etymology claiming that the F-word (another good old-fashioned, all-purpose, four-letter expletive) originated as the acronym of "Fornication Under Consent of the King" (or, in another version, "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge").

Suffice it to say, it's all C.R.A.P.

I liked the first version so much better.

[chykensa]

Hmm, despite its ancient origins, I prefer the OP's version better too. I'm sure these words have been around for a lot longer than 15o years. Didn't Shakespeare and even Chaucer use them - that pre-dates the Op by about 500 years if Chaucer can be believed!
This forum isn't strictly on-topic, but does throw up some interesting comments! Old QI
Andy

[Deleted]

I recall from A-Level English Lit, that Chaucer definitely used words like "shitte", "pisse" and "turde" ... I think he dropped the C-bomb a few times as well ... lots of hilarity during lessons

Re: C-bomb, this is taken from Wikipedia ... backs up my memory ... we read the Wife of Bath

The word appears several times in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (c. 1390), in bawdy contexts, but it does not appear to be considered obscene at this point, since it is used openly. A notable use is from the "Miller's Tale": "Pryvely he caught her by the queynte." The Wife of Bath also uses this term, "For certeyn, olde dotard, by your leave/You shall have queynte right enough at eve ... What aileth you to grouche thus and groan?/Is it for ye would have my queynte alone?"

In those days the word overlapped with "quaint"

[jakethevape]

What a Sh*tty situation

[kurotoshiro]

My gf recently read this book which she seemed to enjoy very much (she likes a good bit of swearing):

www.amazon.co.uk/Filthy-English-When-Everyday-Swearing/dp/184627169X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1

She kept telling me facts from the book about the origin of various words. I've forgotten them all now, though. Apart from one: "Berk" is short for "Berkeley Hunt" which is rhyming slang for "C*nt". Which is quite surprising, seeing as "Berk" is considered quite a mild term these days.

[chykensa]

Feb 22, 2013 12:10:47 GMT kurotoshiro said:

"Berk" is short for "Berkeley Hunt" which is rhyming slang for "C*nt". Which is quite surprising, seeing as "Berk" is considered quite a mild term these days.

I think I'll start calling people 'berks' now, knowing something that they probably don't! A small but intensely personal pleasure!!
Andy

[ant]

Another interesting one en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gropecunt_Lane