You ’ve probably heard of the very precise , scientific unit of measure called the " buttload . " use might include , " I ’d love to hang out , but I have a buttload of homework tonight . " Or , " I cleaned out my wardrobe and dropped off a buttload of wearing apparel at the parsimony store . "
But where did this exceptional butt - based unit of measurement of bar come from ?
No, You Started It
Some assert that " buttload " was first used in print in the novel " Los Angeles Without a Map " by Richard Rayner in1988 , and that it ’s chiefly used in the United States . fairly enough . But what about its nigh yet more rough-cut cousin , sh*tload ? Merriam - Webster has that one going as far back as1954 , but they still blame Americans for it . The Brits had cleaned this one up by the1990s , interchange it for " shedload . "
As long as we ’re look up words , what about " boatload ? " Could that have led to the " buttload " phenomenon ? Maybe , but carload has been in use since at least1625 , when it was used by Internet Explorer John Davis as recount by Samual Purchas in " Purchas His pilgrim . " It really does just mean the number of people a gravy boat can hold , and there do n’t seem to be any open agate line between boatload and buttload across more than 400 years .
But There Is a Butt
While " buttload " may be a rough estimation of a turgid amount , there is a unit of measure for mass called abutt . It ’s an old unit first used in medieval time , but it ’s hardly more precise than " buttload . "
A butt is a caskful that holds liquids , like a barrel . It could contain anywhere from 108 to 140 gallon ( 409 to 530 liters ) , which is indeed a draw . But it ’s in all probability not the beginning of " buttload , " as there do n’t seem to be any connections between a medieval barrel in Britain and the use of the term in late 20th - one C America .
