Shit-load
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shit load
A corruption of the term "shipload" of antiquity, as described the massive cargoes brought into harbor by sea-faring ships. Through association to the perjorative "shit" (itself a corruption of "shite"), the terms "fuck load", "ass load", and "butt load" were all created, the user, unaware of the origins of the term, substituting one curse word interchangeably for another. Over time, the second half of the expression also came to be substituted, most often in cases where "ton" was inserted for "load", whilst still maintaining the previously-replaced derisories as variations of the newly-coined phrase.
In its "proper" form, the phrase would be hyphenated and expressed as a linkage between two words to describe a third, correlated concept (i.e. "shit-load")
In its "proper" form, the phrase would be hyphenated and expressed as a linkage between two words to describe a third, correlated concept (i.e. "shit-load")
Shit Load
In all actuality, the term "shit load" originated at the Bowman Grey School of Medicine around 1963. An obscure janitor (M.S. Curtis) out of curiosity began to ask random students at the facility to defecate in empty paint cans left in the restroom stalls for an anonymous and random study on the average mean weight of an adult male bowel movement. The project lasted from March 27 1963 until late September 1964 when an unknown party reported it to the Dean of Students and Curtis was summarily terminated. Mr. Curtis determined that the average weight of an adult defecation at that time was 1.3619 pounds (.6177 kg). The term eventually came to mean a substantial or excessive amount.