What’s the origin of the word ‘crap’?
It's not actually a swear-word, according to history.
IT has often been claimed in popular culture that the slang term for human bodily waste, crap, originated with Thomas Crapper, who died in 1910, because of his association with lavatories.
A common version of this story is that American servicemen stationed in England during World War I saw his name on cisterns and used it as army slang, i.e. “I’m going to the crapper”.
The word ‘crap’ is actually of Middle English origin and predates its application to bodily waste.
Its most likely etymological origin is a combination of two older words, the Dutch krappen: to pluck off, cut off, or separate; and the Old French crappe: siftings, waste or rejected matter (from the medieval Latin crappa, chaff).
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In English, it was used to refer to chaff, and also to weeds or other rubbish.
Its first application to bodily waste, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, appeared in 1846 under a reference to a crapping ken, or a privy, where ken means a house.
Interestingly, Thomas Crapper & Co owned the world’s first bath, toilet and sink showroom, in King’s Road until 1966.
He was noted for the quality of his products and received several royal warrants.
Manhole covers with Crapper’s company’s name on them in Westminster Abbey are now one of London’s minor tourist attractions.
The flushing toilet was invented by John Harington in 1596.
Joseph Bramah of Yorkshire patented the first practical water closet in England in 1778.
George Jennings in 1852 also took out a patent for the flush-out toilet.
In a time when bathroom fixtures were barely spoken of, Crapper heavily promoted sanitary plumbing and pioneered the concept of the bathroom fittings showroom.
(Source: Wikipedia)
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