Question about a common term...

[xotoxi]

I'm sure you've hear the term "built like a brick shithouse".



An example of it's use in a sentence would be:

"Aaron Neville may sing like a lady...but he is build like a brick shithouse."
​

My question it two-fold:

• What is a shithouse?
• Are shithouses made of other materials besides brick?

Thank you for your help.

 

[American Horse]

I'm sure you've hear the term "built like a brick shithouse".

An example of it's use in a sentence would be:

"Aaron Neville may sing like a lady...but he is build like a brick shithouse."
​

My question it two-fold:

• What is a shithouse?
• Are shithouses made of other materials besides brick?

Thank you for your help.

In the years before most of the people who frequent this board are experienced with, outside "out-houses" were very common, and were in effect "shit-houses", or latrines like the "porta-potties" of today.

They were of very light wood construction, light enough to be picked up and moved to another pit when the previous one was filled to capacity, but heavy enough to resist being blown over in the wind. They had a wood floor to elevate the feet of the user above grade level, usually they had one hole for a seat, but sometimes they had two because of the hazard of male "circularity error ratio". When toilet paper was hard to get the sears catalog was a common appurtenance.

To build one of brick would be an elaborate structure indeed, a rarity, and far more endowed than would be standard fare, not to mention it wouldn't be useful.

So to compare a womans "build" with such a brick structure is to comment on the rarity of her visual endowments. I can't speak to the accuracy of some people's use of the phrase in the vernacular.

BTW: You did not want to sit in one of these on Halloween night, because some pranksters might be waiting and push the outhouse over on its side with you in it.

 

[xotoxi]

I'm sure you've hear the term "built like a brick shithouse".

An example of it's use in a sentence would be:

"Aaron Neville may sing like a lady...but he is build like a brick shithouse."
​

My question it two-fold:

• What is a shithouse?
• Are shithouses made of other materials besides brick?

Thank you for your help.

In the years before most of the people who frequent this board are experienced with, outside "out-houses" were very common, and were in effect "shit-houses", or latrines like the "porta-potties" of today.

They were of very light wood construction, light enough to be picked up and moved to another pit when the previous one was filled to capacity, but heavy enough to resist being blown over in the wind. They had a wood floor to elevate the feet of the user above grade level, usually they had one hole for a seat, but sometimes they had two because of the hazard of male "circularity error ratio". When toilet paper was hard to get the sears catalog was a common appurtenance.

To build one of brick would be an elaborate structure indeed, a rarity, and far more endowed than would be standard fare, not to mention it wouldn't be useful.

So to compare a womans "build" with such a brick structure is to comment on the rarity of her visual endowments. I can't speak to the accuracy of some people's use of the phrase in the vernacular.

BTW: You did not want to sit in one of these on Halloween night, because some pranksters might be waiting and push the outhouse over on its side with you in it.

Thanks for the info! That is excellent knowledge.

You must be a shitologist to know all that.

 

[YWN666]

You must be a shitologist to know all that.

I went to school to become a shitologist. I made the mistake of eating too much cheese and couldn't "pass" my final exam.

The lab classes were interesting, though

 

[American Horse]

Thanks for the info! That is excellent knowledge.

You must be a shitologist to know all that.

No, but I am a doctor of horse-shit. I took a look at Aaron Neville's image, and it appears that the phrase is now applied to males as well as females. He's a very stocky guy. Back in that day you wouldn't have heard it, but who knows? While a few gals might have used it, a man wouldn't have used it in reference to another male. But you probably know that we were more sensitive about such issues back then.

 

[xotoxi]

Thanks for the info! That is excellent knowledge.

You must be a shitologist to know all that.

No, but I am a doctor of horse-shit.

I have my Master's degree in bull-shit.

 

[manu1959]

Thanks for the info! That is excellent knowledge.

You must be a shitologist to know all that.

No, but I am a doctor of horse-shit.

I have my Master's degree in bull-shit.

what was your thesis topic....

 

[007]

No, but I am a doctor of horse-shit.

I have my Master's degree in bull-shit.

what was your thesis topic....

Why bother asking... he'll just bull shit ya...

 

[Againsheila]

I remember using outhouses....I hated them, especially at night. What I could never understand was my aunt's two seater.......why two seats? I am not sitting there with a friend.

 

[007]

I remember using outhouses....I hated them, especially at night. What I could never understand was my aunt's two seater.......why two seats? I am not sitting there with a friend.

I used one as well. My father's parents didn't have indoor plumbing in the old farm house. Used the ole Sears catalog for wipe too.

 

[xotoxi]

...why two seats? I am not sitting there with a friend.

Not a friend.

A lover.

 

[AllieBaba]

You guys are wussies. Outhouses still exist in my world. As a teenager we had a horrific cold spell and everything froze up for 2 weeks. We had a little run-off irrigation ditch from a nearby creek (and the John Day River was across the road) and a two-seater outhouse. Our countryside is dotted with outhouses because we are so remote and there are so many miles between towns...but no way for running water to work at the few parks and by-ways.

And many of the ppl who live around here don't have running water in their houses still. Outhouse country.

Two seaters are so when two people need to use the bathroom they can. Or perhaps to spread the shit around so it doesn't pile up to the seat, which is probably more likely. Still, if you have a big gathering, it's nice to have a two-seater.

We had a graveyard in our yard, too. We kept goats there.

 

[007]

You guys are wussies. Outhouses still exist in my world. As a teenager we had a horrific cold spell and everything froze up for 2 weeks. We had a little run-off irrigation ditch from a nearby creek (and the John Day River was across the road) and a two-seater outhouse. Our countryside is dotted with outhouses because we are so remote and there are so many miles between towns...but no way for running water to work at the few parks and by-ways.

And many of the ppl who live around here don't have running water in their houses still. Outhouse country.

Two seaters are so when two people need to use the bathroom they can. Or perhaps to spread the shit around so it doesn't pile up to the seat, which is probably more likely. Still, if you have a big gathering, it's nice to have a two-seater.

We had a graveyard in our yard, too. We kept goats there.

Holy kripes AB.... you live in S.C. or something?

I have a very good friend that's going on his 28th year maintaining the grave yard here in town, and that includes digging graves. I've helped him over the years dig graves. Many graves. I've even covered folks up all alone. I find a grave yard to be a peaceful place. Not spooky at all.

 

[Sarah G]

Outhouses must have been brutal on really cold days. I can't imagine going outside at night to one of those things. They probably had pails or something you could use at night and then just dump it in the morning and clean it out.

Good grief.

 

[007]

Outhouses must have been brutal on really cold days. I can't imagine going outside at night to one of those things. They probably had pails or something you could use at night and then just dump it in the morning and clean it out.

Good grief.

That would be a Chamber Pot.

 

[American Horse]

I remember using outhouses....I hated them, especially at night. What I could never understand was my aunt's two seater.......why two seats? I am not sitting there with a friend.

The two seater had a very practical purpose. One was mainly for sitting and the other was mailny for standing. It resembles the modern problem women are concerned about when men fail to put the seat up when they take a leak. The old outhouse had its own amenities and manners.

 

[xotoxi]

I find a grave yard to be a peaceful place. Not spooky at all.

I agree.

Graveyards are only spooky after the corpses have risen up out of the ground and start to chase you.

That's when they get spooky.

 

[xotoxi]

No, but I am a doctor of horse-shit.

I have my Master's degree in bull-shit.

what was your thesis topic....

American Politicians.

 

[007]

I find a grave yard to be a peaceful place. Not spooky at all.

I agree.

Graveyards are only spooky after the corpses have risen up out of the ground and start to chase you.

That's when they get spooky.

I see you like to watch horror movies.

 

[strollingbones]

Outhouses must have been brutal on really cold days. I can't imagine going outside at night to one of those things. They probably had pails or something you could use at night and then just dump it in the morning and clean it out.

Good grief.

chamber pots...nope once you got an outhouse ...you never looked back at the chamber pots..and yes it was cold..and dark....and you ran out there did it..and ran back in....no one knew any different