History of the word "Shit"

I posted this in chit chat only because this may or may not be a joke. It seems like a fairly good theory so I figured I wouldn't assume anything like it being meant as a joke. So in chit chat it went. Hopefully the censors won't cut it up too bad.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by ship and 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 ", (Ship High In Transport) 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.

And I always thought it was a golf term.

Yup, and somehow it became a bad word that can't be said on television. But poop and crap can even though they describe the exact same thing. I will never understand that.

Interesting MOjOm, it's like where the middle finger derived, whether its true or not i don't know, however, supposedly the french chopped off the Brit's fingers, save one, and in turn the brits waved their only finger ... 'the middle one' yelling Pluck Yew. I'd like to find out if it's true or not.

actually it is the two finger salute that comes from the french cutting off the bow fingers of the british archers. The archers would stick two fingers up at them to say ha ha still got my fingers.

Is the story behind For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (F.U.C.K) commonly known?

The Old English legal term for adultery?

And upon nightfall, the rascal stole to her chambers For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

Or, many a man has Found Unlawful Carnal Knowledge with this wench your HOnor.

[Edited on 19-12-2003 by RANT]

check this site out , it has the origins of that and other words

www.wordorigins.org...

lol check out the london street name in the origin of a certain 4 letter word that I shant mention that begins with c

its on the ineternet so it must be true.

like the two contradicting explanations for "f u c *"

sounds absurd to me.

Originally posted by RANT
Is the story behind For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (F.U.C.K) commonly known?

The Old English legal term for adultery?

And upon nightfall, the rascal stole to her chambers For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

Or, many a man has Found Unlawful Carnal Knowledge with this wench your HOnor.

[Edited on 19-12-2003 by RANT]

errr...no.
F.U.C.K = Fornicate Under Consensus of King

errr...no.
F.U.C.K = Fornicate Under Consensus of King

Oddly enough, I think that's correct....or at least that I've heard that before... I had heard of the # origin, but I'll definitely need to check the sites, hehe.....

That Etymology website says both are wrong, it came from the Latin fuccant.

Popular etymologies agree, unfortunately incorrectly, that this is an acronym meaning either Fornication Under Consent of the King or For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, the latter usually accompanying a story about how medieval prisoners were forced to wear this word on their clothing.

Deriving the etymology of this word is difficult, as it has been under a taboo for most of its existence and citations are rare. The earliest known use, according to American Heritage and Lighter, predates 1500 and is from a poem written in a mix of Latin and English and entitled Flen flyys. The relevant line reads:

Non sunt in celi quia fuccant uuiuys of heli.
Translated:

They [the monks] are not in heaven because they # the wives of Ely [a town near Cambridge].
Fuccant is a pseudo-Latin word and in the original it is written in cipher to further disguise it.