>The etymology of the word "crap", meaning excrement or superfluous
>material, is from the Old French, via Middle English, "crappe",
>which stood for the grain that was trodden underfoot in a barn. The
>word originally derives from the Latin "crappa". The association
>with excrement was fortified with the water closet improvements
>invented by Thomas Crapper. He was an Englishman, 1837-1910, who
>invented the ball and suction device (British Patent # 4,990) found
>in modern toilets that allows an efficient flush with an minimum of
>water and also shuts off the flow to the tank once refilled.
>Toilets equipped with these devices were known as "Crappers", hence
>the derivative "I gotta take a crap" expletive.
Do we really want to know why you know this? ;~)
Auf wiedersehen!
H.
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Macintosh fans, on the other hand, may note that cockroaches are
far more numerous than humans, and that numbers alone do not
denote a higher life form." - The New York Times, Nov. 26, 1991
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