barb1191
05-04-2010, 09:50 AM
MANURE
In the 16th and 17th centuries, almost everything had to be transported by ship, and large shipments of manure were common.
Manure was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet. But, when at sea, if the manure got wet, it not only became heavier, but the process of fermentation began. A by-product of this fermentation was "methane gas". Since bundles of manure were stored below deck, if they got wet, methane gas began to build up, and the first time someone came below 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 term:
"Ship High In Transit"
which meant for the sailors to stow it high enough so any water that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane gas.Thus evolved the term "S.H.I.T" (Ship High In Transit) which has come down through the
centuries and is still in use to this very day.
You probably didn't know the true history of this word. Neither did I.
I had always thought it was a golf term. :shrug:
In the 16th and 17th centuries, almost everything had to be transported by ship, and large shipments of manure were common.
Manure was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet. But, when at sea, if the manure got wet, it not only became heavier, but the process of fermentation began. A by-product of this fermentation was "methane gas". Since bundles of manure were stored below deck, if they got wet, methane gas began to build up, and the first time someone came below 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 term:
"Ship High In Transit"
which meant for the sailors to stow it high enough so any water that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane gas.Thus evolved the term "S.H.I.T" (Ship High In Transit) which has come down through the
centuries and is still in use to this very day.
You probably didn't know the true history of this word. Neither did I.
I had always thought it was a golf term. :shrug: