General Chat

A lovely story (so to speak) but, sadly, generally regarded as complete urban myth. Were it true, it would not explain the usage of the word in other languages that share the same prehistoric root. For example Scheiss in German and the Dutch, schijt, as well as a number of other languages. Those languages do not have a similar acronym. In fact, the word has been around for many centuries in one form or another and the original Anglo Saxon has a different spelling. The shipping theory doesn't really hold (no pun intended) up either since goods were often stored below decks because it was considered to be drier. And why would there be a need to ship this commodity anyway when it is in vast and often free abundance around the globe? Personally I love this myth but sadly it is not true. Does anyone know of any other similar stories behind words' meanings?

O.K. I'll come clean! It's from Old English and then on to Middle English (Schitte!) Not so alluring as the first derivation though - is it?

I was shovelling some horse manure off the road into a bucket when a young girl asked me what I was going to do with it. When I told her that I was going to put it on my rhubarb she said, 'You should come to our house we have custard on ours'. Jeff Lol

Love that story - thanks :o)

I too shovelled horse-muck for years......FiL asked for some for his garden....a lot of people don't realise that it should be rotted down for at least 6 months before it is spread, otherwise it is far too strong..... He always grew good veg....

I shoveled S H I T for years at the allotement ,and i didn't know where the saying came from either lol,but i bet my gt gt gt Grandad did, he was a mariner .Fred.

Subject: Manure Manure: 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. I had always thought it was a golf term.

You learn something new every day!