• SabinStargem@lemmy.today
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    3 days ago

    BOG: “Board of Government”. Apparently the durability and other characteristics of toilet seats had to be standardized by a board, otherwise people would suffer accidents while on the throne. Thus, we got the BOG Standard.

    At least, that I what I heard anecdotally.

    • DeltaWingDragon@sh.itjust.works
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      12 hours ago

      Any etymology derived from an acronym is probably false.

      “News” - supposedly from “Notable Events, Weather, Sports” or “North, East, West, South” but that’s false, it’s actually the plural of “new” and it means “new things” or “recent events”.

      “Posh” - supposedly from “Port Out, Starboard Home”, which refers to a rich person on a ship who always wants to be on the shady side, but that’s false, the true origin is unknown but it probably comes from the Romani word “posh” which means half.

      “Fuck” - supposedly from “Fornicating Under Consent of King” or “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge”, but that’s false, it’s actually from Proto-Germanic “fukkōną”, which means “to bang, hit, have sex”.

      “Shit” - supposedly from “Ship High In Transit”, which was supposedly a sign posted on ships that transported manure, but that’s false, it’s actually from Proto-Germanic “skītan”, which means “to defecate, excrete”.

      I can’t tell if you’re joking or not, so I just infodumped as a preemptive measure.