ORIGINS: The Word "SHIT"

Beliefs/Rumors:


1. According the the eRumor, in the 16th and 17th centuries, dry manure that was transported aboard ships sometimes got wet, fermented, and released methane gas, which is explosive.  Many ships were destroyed before the source of the gas was recognized and after that manure was marked "S.H.I.T," which meant "ship high in transit.  In other words, away from the bottom of the ship and the potential of coming into contact with water.


Evidence of Facts:

A.
The eRumor has circulated on the Internet since about 2000.
B.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary dates the word back to 1526 and says that is is from the Old English scite and akin to a related word -scitan and means to defecate.  
C.
A writer for the Online Etymology Dictionary points out that the use acronyms didn't develop until the 20th century so a word that is hundreds of years old would not have originated as an acronym.  

 D.

• the word itself is a good 1,000 years older than the common use of acronyms;
• the original form of the word (Anglo-Saxon sc-, which regularly evolved into M.E. sh-) does not correspond to the supposed acronym;
• the verb is the original form, the noun derives from it; the acronym supposes the noun came first;
• no one has produced a single instance of this supposed acronym from any old mercantile record or ship's manifest;
• in fact, no one has ever established that there was a custom of shipping manure;
• the word has cognates in many other languages, including ones outside Germanic, for which no acronym theory of origin makes sense;

 So... the word is what it is. Poop. Dung. Manure. 
How do you use this word? Are you using it correctly?





SOURCES:
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/shit.htm
 http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/shit.asp






Always demand proof, proof is the elementary courtesy that is anyone’s due.
—Paul Valéry, "Monsieur Teste"