Hey all, here is something that is really quite interesting...

Fertilizer

During the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by ship. It was also before commercial fertilizer's invention, so large
shipments of manure were common. It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, it not only became heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by-product is methane gas.

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 term
"Ship 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," which has come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day.

You probably did not know the true history of this word. Neither did I. I always thought it was a golf term. :rolling:

In the puritan culture of colonial America (and possibly merry old England, I'm not totally sure), town magestrates would punish adulterers, perverts and even those who read or wrote dirty words by holding them in their town square (in whatever that contraption is that's basically 2 boards slapped together with holes big enough for your head and hands - can't remember what that was called) to be ridiculed and made an example of. The word "F.U.C.K." was painted across their forhead, which stood for "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge."

Fun to learn where dirty words come from, aint it! :D

:evil:

I will have fun shareling my new found knowledge at school, the teachers will surely appreciate it :muha:

When I first read the topic title I instantly thought of the 40-letter-S-word-mentioned-beforehand

Urban Legends

s h i t -> related words: shred, shed, shift, share

shred - O.E. screade "piece cut off," from W.Gmc. *skraudas. The verb is from O.E. screadian "prune, cut."

shed (v.) - "cast off," O.E. sceadan, scadan "to divide, separate," from P.Gmc. *skaithanan, from *skaith "divide, split." Related to shift.

shift - O.E. sciftan "arrange, divide," related to sceadan "divide, separate" (see shed (v.)), from P.Gmc. *skiftanan. Sense of "change" appeared c.1250; that of "move, transfer" is late 13c.; that of "manage to get along" (shift for oneself) is first attested 1461, and yielded shiftless in the modern sense (1584). Meaning "chemise" is a euphemism for smock. Shifty originally was "able to manage for oneself" (1570); sense of "using dishonest methods" first recorded 1837.

share (1) - "portion," O.E. scearu "a cutting, shearing, division," related to sceran "to cut" (see shear), from P.Gmc. *skaro-, from PIE base *sker- "to cut." The verb is from 1586. Shareholder first attested 1828.

**** (v.) - O.E. scitan, from P.Gmc. *skit-, from PIE *skheid- "split, divide, separate." Related to shed (v.) on the notion of "separation" from the body (cf. L. excrementum, from excernere "to separate"). The noun is O.E. scitte "purging;" sense of "excrement" dates from 1585, from the verb. Extensive slang usage; meaning "to lie" is from 1934; that of "to disrespect" is from 1903; used for "obnoxious person" since at least 1508. Shat is a humorous past tense form, not etymological, from 18c. ****-faced "drunk" is 1960s student slang; **** list is from 1942.

Yet another sad example of a language urban legend

In the puritan culture of colonial America (and possibly merry old England, I'm not totally sure), town magestrates would punish adulterers, perverts and even those who read or wrote dirty words by holding them in their town square (in whatever that contraption is that's basically 2 boards slapped together with holes big enough for your head and hands - can't remember what that was called) to be ridiculed and made an example of. The word "F.U.C.K." was painted across their forhead, which stood for "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge."
Um, sorry, but no - that little four letter word has been that little four letter word for a very very very long time.

The "f-word" goes all the way back to Old English - fukkit - that is as far back as its etymolygy has been traced at this point in time.

It is not and never was an acronym, and has always been a pejorative word for copulation, also being extended to other nice little uses. It is a cute little story, but why don't we get out our Oxford English Dictionaries to find the etymolygy of a word, instead of believing silliness like that.

Really most explinations about how swear words came to be, are quite false, take sh1t for example, since acroynms where not invented intill the early 1900's, how could you explian the Ship High In Transit definition. The most likely origin is the word sciten which means "covered with excrement"

for more information about acroynms go
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_268b.html
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/s/s0351500.html

@ Falstaff

My apologies. After your unnecessarily smug and condescending post, I did a bit of digging. Not to prove I was right, but to confirm that you were. I stand corrected, and shall never again dare to post any interesting factoids (however insignificant) without checking my Oxford English Dictionary.

From now on I'll never repeat anything I know (or think I know), even if it's something that I (as many) have heard my entire life, but never bothered to research down to it's very root, without first consulting the findings of the world's academic elite. Boy, I'm sure glad to now know what a dumbass I am, despite hearing and reading that very explanation (and the equally untrue "Fornication Under Consent of the King") in college campuses and in various books since I was in junior high (which was the last time I found it fun to look up dirty words in the Oxford English Dictionary, by the way).

[EDIT - Kitrax, no offense to you here - I wasn't refererring to you, just making a point. ]

I have no problem with being corrected. In fact, I appreciate it when friends pass interesting information my way that helps me become a more informed individual, especially when I'm going on false assumptions. In the short time I've been posting here, many of SP's members have respectfully done so and I've respected them in kind. You could have just as easily said "Actually, Death Rabbit, that's a widespread urban legend and isn't true. Here, Read This (http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/****.htm)." But for whatever reason, you went out of your way to insult me with your patronizing "Oooh look at me- I'm an English major" tone and biting reference to my "cute little story" as if I'd made it up myself and have been single-handedly spreading that urban legend around the entire country for last 50 years, even though I'm 23.

While I can think of about a dozen mean-spirited things I'd like to say to you right now (because you really pissed me off), I'd rather not stoop any farther than I already have, and I hope this doesn't cause a major posting-insult war between the two of us, though I'm pretty sure the admins wouldn't allow it anyway. And yes, I could have just as easily replied "Sorry - don't be a meanie," and left it at that. But I wanted to make a point to you that you just made yourself look like a serious jerk for no good reason, unless you enjoy making people who've done nothing to you feel stupid.

Everyone - my earlier post was an urban legend and I'm a big dumbass for believing it, and furthermore spreading it. Excuse the "F.U.C.K." out of me, Falstaff.

[ April 15, 2003, 02:46: Message edited by: Death Rabbit ]

My apologies.

My post was intended to be neither smug nor condescending, and I am truly sorry if it came off like that. Any disrespect was unintended, and I was certainly not trying to make anyone feel stupid.

The words "sad," "nice," "cute," and "silliness" were not intended to belittle you (even though It was your post that I quoted) or anyone else here, and I offer my deepest apologies to any and all who were offended by my post.

No worries, everything's cool. Sarcasm is easy to misread, and I too have caught flack in the SP boards for letting the smartass in me go unchecked.

Think nothing of it. We be cool, dawg :thumb:

And yes, I know we're now officially :yot:

Sorry

Heh hey, i like a bit of a heated post, such as that. But seriously, it is interesting to learn the origins of such words. The two original 'urban legends' aren't that unreasonable, but quite possibly either irony, coincidence, and cleverly made up.

Oh, hang on, i'm confused, was the first one (s.h.i.t) true?

Related to shed (v.) on the notion of "separation" from the body (cf. L. excrementum, from excernere "to separate")

Actually, the "acronym" was not introduced until the twentieth century, so most "word origins" that reach back into history and claim that the word was originally an acronym are urban legends.

However, some of the legends are pretty amusing.