S.H.I.T.

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?