I couldn't find the "cussword" censorship section...

[Terry Mauro]

My friend, Sabrina, an R.N. working with Doctors Without Borders, seems to have a knack for finding little jewels such as this one below:

(My favorite word, when frustrated which is quite often lately...glad to learn it's not a "curse" word....Sabrina)

Manure... An interesting fact

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.

[John Simkin]

My friend, Sabrina, an R.N. working with Doctors Without Borders, seems to have a knack for finding little jewels such as this one below:

(My favorite word, when frustrated which is quite often lately...glad to learn it's not a "curse" word....Sabrina)

Manure... An interesting fact

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.

This is an "urban myth". The word was first used about 1,000 years ago as the Old English verb scitan. In his book, Wicked Words (1989) lexicographer Hugh Rawson claims that the word "xxxx" is related to words like science, schedule and shield, all of which derive from the Indo-European root skei-, meaning "to cut" or "to split."

For most of its history "xxxx" was spelled "xxxxe", 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.

[Terry Mauro]

My friend, Sabrina, an R.N. working with Doctors Without Borders, seems to have a knack for finding little jewels such as this one below:

(My favorite word, when frustrated which is quite often lately...glad to learn it's not a "curse" word....Sabrina)

Manure... An interesting fact

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.

This is an "urban myth". The word was first used about 1,000 years ago as the Old English verb scitan. In his book, Wicked Words (1989) lexicographer Hugh Rawson claims that the word "xxxx" is related to words like science, schedule and shield, all of which derive from the Indo-European root skei-, meaning "to cut" or "to split."

For most of its history "xxxx" was spelled "xxxxe", 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.

***********************************************************

Thank you for setting the record straight for me on that, John.

[Duke Lane]

... For most of its history "xxxx" was spelled "xxxxe", but the modern, four-letter spelling of the word can be found in texts dating as far back as the mid-1700s. ...

... which probably goes a long way in explaining why so many Britishers prefer to use the word with the long-I sound, yearning for the days of Empire?!?