Excremento Fine Lignum Unum: A Brief History

While perusing YouTube for something interesting, I came across a video entitled "A History of the Toilet," I shit you not. Being a well rounded fellow with a multiplicity of interests, I immediately hit play. Although the video was only mildly interesting, I did learn the origin of one of my favorite expressions that has fallen into disuse of late: The shit end of the stick. The saying is usually in response of one's having fallen upon hard times through no fault of their own, or having gotten a raw deal in some manner. When these things occur, it is said that they have been handed the shit end of the stick. I was surprised to learn that the expression goes back to ancient Rome.

This is a photo of an old Roman public toilet (that appears in the video as well). If you notice there is a trough that runs in the front. The Romans were ingenious engineers. The waste falls into another trough below (not shown) where water runs constantly. Not being wasteful of good drinking water, the "flush" water comes from waste water from public baths, etc.. The trough in front contains clean water and after one finishes one's business there is a stick with a sponge (please see top photo) that one uses to clean one's derriere. Given that these toilets are at public arenas, there is usually someone waiting for you to finish (The Romans didn't share our desire for privacy when it came to bodily functions). You would, out of respect, hand the cleaning wand to the next person handle first. If you didn't, they would necessarily, get the shit end of the stick.

Photos courtesy of Google