In a message dated 1/16/2003 2:58:40 PM Central Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > Please, forgive the topic, I truly don't know the answer and am grinning > from the explanation. I received it from another source mailing list. > Shelia > ------------------------------------------ > In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything was transported by ship. It was > also before commercial fertilizer's invention, so large shipments of manure > were common. In dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once > water (at sea) hit it, it not only became heavier, the process of > fermentation began again, of which a by-product is methane gas. > > HI Shelia, According to the Urban Legends site it is just a story - a funny one but just a story... <grin>. Give this URL a try: <A HREF="http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/bl-s-word.htm">Origin of the S-Word - Netlore Archive</A> Take care - Emma