shit

In ancient times thru the late 1700's, hulls of wooden ships were sealed with various pliable glues or mixtures of sealants. The choice of gluing compounds depended on the location of shipbuilding activities and availability of particular sealants. In southernmost parts of the Roman Empire, the sap or secretion from Shittah trees, a clear sticky and brownish colored substance called "shit" was used in sealing compounds. The wood itself of a Shittah tree is called "shittim" and is known to have been used as planking material in early ship construction. The Shittah sap is very messy and once making contact with the skin or clothing, is extremely difficult to remove. It was not uncommon to hear a ship laborer or bilge worker cry out "I've got shit all over me!" Through the ages seaman became more and more accustomed to referring to anything nasty, smelly or otherwise distasteful as "shit", in which later even included describing the result of defecation.