Ooo…nice one, Fretful. I just looked through the OED again, faced with the reality that I must’ve missed that one, since “The Owl and the Nightingale” isn’t exactly that obscure and, sure enough:
So I read up on “shit” a little more. And guess what exciting news I’ve found? I bet you’re wetting your pants in anticipation. An even earlier reference. In fact, two previous references, under the definition “Diarrhoea, esp. in cattle. Obs.”
Somebody with any knowledge of Latin help me out, but is that saying something like “when the Angles say ‘Scitta’”? Otherwise, why the Latin reference in OED?
And I still like this 17th-century equivalent of “fuck all y’all”:
Or how 'bout “A scurvy shit-breech Lad.” C’mon, say it in your best pirate voice “Arrrr…ye scurvy shit-breech lad!”
Am I insane to get an inordinate amount of joy from this etymological fodder?