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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Got this in an Email today. OK, go ahead! Shoot it down.
SHIPPING MANURE
Exciting Historical information you need to know about shipping Manure:
In 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. I dolike to keep you amused.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Sounds like a load of C(ogitized).R(akish).A(ppendage).P(ulling). to me.  From etymonline.com shit (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. Shit-faced "drunk" is 1960s student slang; shit list is from 1942. http://www.barbwired.com/nadiaweb/nawl/archives/000202.html
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
The first three acronym finders I tried didn't have anything. Then I found:
SHIT Sure happy it's Thursday [slang]
sHiT Stupid haole In transition [Hawaiian slang]
SHIT Send Help It's Terrible [slang]
shit Saddam Hussein Is a Tyrant [slang]
SHIT Ship High In Transit [slang]
SHIT Special High Intensity Training [slang]
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
I think that shit story is a lot of crap!
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
In general, any pre-20th century acronymic etymology is suspect. This goes for Frequent Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Port Out Starboard Home, too.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Am I the first to be mantled in the new year?
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 619
addict
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addict
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 619 |
Am I the first to be mantled in the new year?Not to worry, Consuelo. Your S.H.I.T. doesn't stink as much as some of the other contributions. 
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear consuelo: This time of year a mantle will keep you warm.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
And a crappy mantle at that! (So it couldn't've been Mickey, he wasn't crappy) [rolleyes-e]
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
I do like to keep you amused.
<
Ha! Scored again!
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 15
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 15 |
The S.H.I.T. in question was probably guano, which in the past was shipped in considerable amounts from Peru and islands off south America to Europe as a source of nitrogen fertilizer. Considering the explosive nature of the likely components of the guano - - amonium nitrate, it's quite possible there was a realistic concern about what was slopping about in the bilge.
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