(no subject)

[unbibium]

Just when did bovine excrement become our universal metaphor for deception? The connection between the two escapes me. Certainly both are undesirable, and I suppose the intuition used to detect deception can be better expressed as "smell" than as any other sense. But it doesn't seem like a natural progression to me.

I must know, because whoever is responsible for "bullshit" is also indirectly responsible for "shit-eating grin".

Comments

[miwasatoshi.livejournal.com]

Merriam-Webster says:
bullshit - (noun) c.1915 (verb) c.1942

from both bull (1) male bovine
and
bull (6)

Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps from obsolete bull to mock
Date: 1640
1 : a grotesque blunder in language
2 slang : empty boastful talk
3 slang : NONSENSE 2

So basically it's a compound combining two homophones into a new meaning.

Uh, smell has NOTHING to do with it...

[jecook]

It's all thought process.

As you are listening to someone, your mind is reconciling with what your minds knows and what the guy is telling you. If they don't jive, the first thing out of your mouth is usually "Bull Shit!", meaning that whatever the guy is saying to you has mentally been equated to a large pile of the stuff left over by a male bovine, which is usually quite unpleasent to be around.

Plus, it's fun to say. I would'nt bullshit ya, would I??

Re: Uh, smell has NOTHING to do with it...

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of things that are unpleasant to be around. Why does the shit of a farm animal fit better than anything else?