Gracious me. Aren't we getting serious? This is a "joke'' that has been circulating on mailing lists for years (genealogy lists apparently being the exception). I can't believe anybody really believed it was true. At least the "golf" comment at the end should have given it away. Bob Wilson ----- Original Message ----- From: "Will Brown" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 9:35 AM Subject: Re: [MDCECIL] Useful Info-Not! : Hello friends, : When I read the post about dried manure exploding becoming being the origin : for a word I was skeptical. Would mature be a item that would be sent by : ship during the 17th and 18th century? The cost of collecting and drying the : material would have been relatively high, farmers would be making their own : locally and have very little cash for its purchase if they needed it. : Shippers could realize greater profits with other cargo. I have seen : advertisements in the middle of the 19th century offering bat guano from : South America, however. : : So, I thought I would do a little investigating. The American Heritage : Dictionary says the word is from Middle English from Old English. The Oxford : English Dictionary shows examples of it usage as early as 1308. : : I do not mind the post except the person posting it should have checked its : authenticity before posting this piece of "useful history". One would have : just gone to their dictionary to have seen where the word had originated. : See the following site for an explanation of this urban legend. : : http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/shit.htm : : Now lets get back to genealogy and real history. : : Will Brown : : : : > I THOUGH THIS VERY USEFUL IS HISTORY AND I THANK SHIRLEY FOR SENDING THIS : > SHE TOLD US THINGS WE DID NOT KNOW ,,,THIS LIST IS FOR GENEALOGY : > WHICH IS HISTORY : > Charlie Jones : : : ============================== : To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: : http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 : :