Manure... An interesting fact

[Charlie Hannah]

Manure... An interesting fact

Manure : In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by ship and it was also before the invention of commercial fertilizers, so large shipments of manure were quite common.



It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, not only did it become heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by product is methane gas of course.. 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, BOOM! 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 instruction ' Stow 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.' (Stow High In Transit) 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!!!!

[j.sabourn]

Didn't John Bull have some input to this term S.H.I.T. Cheers JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Sounds to me like a load of crap!!!!!

[John Arton]

Try carrying liquid Urea (used in paint manufacture these days) if you think that is a load of ****. Pigs pee it is and the stink stays with you for days.
rgds
JA

[Captain Kong]

That would be a wonderful spray to keep the mozzies from the Channel Tunnel.
Brian

[Chris Allman]

The history of the F word is also interesting but I cannot verify its true and most of you have probably heard it before. In the 17th / 18th centuries prostitutes used to be charged after arrest with the offence of ' For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge '. This had to be hand written on the Magistrates Court listing. Apparently the Clerks to the Court used to get fed up with writing this all the time and used the acronym that we all know to day as the F word. True or False I dont know, but I have heard the explanation enough times to perhaps believe it is true. Fascinating.

[happy daze john in oz]

The history of the F word is also interesting but I cannot verify its true and most of you have probably heard it before. In the 17th / 18th centuries prostitutes used to be charged after arrest with the offence of ' For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge '. This had to be hand written on the Magistrates Court listing. Apparently the Clerks to the Court used to get fed up with writing this all the time and used the acronym that we all know to day as the F word. True or False I dont know, but I have heard the explanation enough times to perhaps believe it is true. Fascinating.

It has been reported that it was used as early as the time of Henry 8.

[gray_marian]

#6&7, "The earliest cite in The Oxford English Dictionary dates from 1503. John Ayto, in his Dictionary of Word Origins cites a proper name (probably a joke or parody name) of 'John le Fucker' from 1250, quite possibly proof the word we casually toss about today was being similarly tossed about 750 years ago.".... Excerpt taken from: snopes.com

[happy daze john in oz]

Words being tossed about, yes I can understand that the world is full of tossers!! Most of them in the worlds various parliaments.