Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

A ship full of S.H.I.T.

Hey Matt:

I got this email today and am wondering if it is true. Before everyone with a computer receives this, and I start hearing people in taverns repeating it, what's it worth?

Sponsored
Sponsored

"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 it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once sea water hit it, it not only became heavier but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by-product is methane gas�. Methane began to build up below decks, and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOOM!� After that the bundles of manure were always stamped with the term "Ship High In Transit," which meant for sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so any water that came into the hold wouldn't touch the volatile cargo. Thus evolved the term S.H.I.T., which has come down to us through the centuries and is in use to this very day. You probably did not know the true history of this word."

-- OB Dan

So now you definitely do not know the true history of this word. Ah, email. What a boon to the world of wisdom. This story's been around for about a decade, so maybe it's already made the rounds of taverns. For a change, I'm not even going to bother saying that of course the story's bunk, that shit's been its own proud self-- and Old English word-- for many hundreds of years. I won't even bore you with that. Instead I'll ask a more basic question. Think back to the 1600s. What was one thing that everybody had plenty of? What filled streets, barns, fields, ditches, rivers, all over pre-industrial Europe? Animal crap. Cow doo. Horse pucks. Goat pies. Excrement as far as the nose can smell. Why, why, why would anybody in England load up a boat with sheep shit and try to sell it in France? Huh? What would France want with it? They had plenty of their own, thank you. For more than one reason, the story is C.R.A.P.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Todd Gloria gets cash from McDonald's franchise owners

Phil's BBQ owner for Larry Turner

Hey Matt:

I got this email today and am wondering if it is true. Before everyone with a computer receives this, and I start hearing people in taverns repeating it, what's it worth?

Sponsored
Sponsored

"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 it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once sea water hit it, it not only became heavier but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by-product is methane gas�. Methane began to build up below decks, and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOOM!� After that the bundles of manure were always stamped with the term "Ship High In Transit," which meant for sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so any water that came into the hold wouldn't touch the volatile cargo. Thus evolved the term S.H.I.T., which has come down to us through the centuries and is in use to this very day. You probably did not know the true history of this word."

-- OB Dan

So now you definitely do not know the true history of this word. Ah, email. What a boon to the world of wisdom. This story's been around for about a decade, so maybe it's already made the rounds of taverns. For a change, I'm not even going to bother saying that of course the story's bunk, that shit's been its own proud self-- and Old English word-- for many hundreds of years. I won't even bore you with that. Instead I'll ask a more basic question. Think back to the 1600s. What was one thing that everybody had plenty of? What filled streets, barns, fields, ditches, rivers, all over pre-industrial Europe? Animal crap. Cow doo. Horse pucks. Goat pies. Excrement as far as the nose can smell. Why, why, why would anybody in England load up a boat with sheep shit and try to sell it in France? Huh? What would France want with it? They had plenty of their own, thank you. For more than one reason, the story is C.R.A.P.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Morricone Youth, Berkley Hart, Dark Entities, Black Heart Procession, Monsters Of Hip-Hop

Live movie soundtracks, birthdays and more in Balboa Park, Grantville, Oceanside, Little Italy
Next Article

The danger of San Diego's hoarders

The $1 million Flash Comics #1
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader