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