Nautical Trivia

[Lancerbye]

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 or common terminology used while working on a marine engine.

[delmarrey]

THat story is buried so deep in the archives I can't find it anymore.

BTW it's not true!

Well, clever as all that may be, whoever wrote it doesn't know shit about shit. According to my dictionary, the word is much older than the 1800s, appearing in its earliest form about 1,000 years ago as the Old English verb scitan. That is confirmed by lexicographer Hugh Rawson in his bawdily edifying book, "Wicked Words" (New York: Crown, 1989), where it is further noted that the expletive is distantly related to words like science, schedule and shield, all of which derive from the Indo-European root skei-, meaning "to cut" or "to split." You get the idea.

Origin of the S-Word: 'Ship High in Transit' - Netlore Archive

[Kai Nui]

Well, if we are going to start this again...
Why is a saloon called a saloon, but now a salon?
Why is a head a head, but the toilet is the head, and the head is really the lou? Or is it the comode in the head?
Then there is the berth in the cabin, or is the berth the room itself?
And, what about the pilot house, house or enclosed cockpit?
Well, at least the galley is the galley. As long as I know where the food and beer are kept, the rest is academic.
Oh wait, isn't the galley where the slaves are kept?