Golf Term

Manure:
In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had
to be transported by ship and it was also before the invention of commercial
fertilizers, so large shipments of manure were quite common.

It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot
less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, not
only did it become heavier, but the process of fermentation
began again, of which a by-product is methane
gas of course.

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, BOOM!

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 instruction ' Stow 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 ', (Stow High In Transit) 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.