A Brief History Lesson

[DrewKaree]

Manure - (defined)
 
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 thought it was a golf term   

[GGKoul]

DrewKaree?  Are you the new Floyd10??

[MinerAl]

I believe you only have half the story.

The stamp was originally longer.  Since the literate longshoreman is notoriously curious, and as the longforeman was not always able to answer questions of such complexity as "why store the poop so high," the original stamp stood for "Blows Up when Lower than Liquid, Ship High In Transport."

"B.U.L.L.S.H.I.T."

The cost of the ink naturally caused the stamp to be shortened.  The meaning is of particular interest to this origin story however 

[DrewKaree]

DrewKaree?  Are you the new Floyd10??

I am the older and far less wiser version he one day hoped to become.

I fear as I age, my posts will become shorter and shorter, until, in a cruel twist of fate, my final post is comprised of one single word, after which I too shall pass.

Rosebud.