Screaming bloody merda

Simply put, there are few things as physically repulsive as sh*t. The Romans had numerous obscene terms for it, including ‘caco’ – ‘to sh*t’ – and the noun ‘merda’. As the poet Martial so eloquently described a dessert passed around at dinner: “No one could touch it, it was sh*t.” Like ‘bollock’ and ‘fart’, the English word ‘sh*t’ is another proud Anglo-saxon hand-medown. In 1509, John Stanbridge proclaimed, “I am weary of study. I am weary of my life… I am almost besh*tten.” Curiously, Warwickshire had a Sh*twell Way and 13th-century Lincolnshire even boasted a Randall Sh*tboast, while Canterbury had a Thomas Turd.