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Originally Posted by Zero
newb - official internet crap historian!
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I'll accept that title.
Crap is a slang word meaning excrement. The word is used to mean not only excrement, but anything of low quality, or as a negative interjection. Note that this word can be considered a curse word, yet is considered mild enough that even a child may use it informally.
When not used literally it also may connote that something is inaccurate, of little factual substance, a lie, hype, or quackery. The word is used nearly interchangeably with "shit" as the less offensive of the two. Still, some people find the word crap offensive, even if not intended to mean feces, and will use the minced oath "crud" instead.
The word "crap" is old in the English language, one of a group of verbs applied to discarded cast offs, like "residue from renderings" (1490s) or in Shropshire, "dregs of beer or ale", meanings probably extended from Middle English crappe "chaff, or grain that has been trodden underfoot in a barn" (c. 1440s), deriving ultimately from Late Latin crappa, "chaff".
The word fell out of use in England by the 1600s, but remained prevalent in the North American colonies which would eventually become the United States. The meaning "to defecate" was recorded in the U.S. since 1846 (according to Oxford and Merriam-Webster), but the word did not hold this meaning at all in Victorian England.
The connection to Thomas Crapper is conjectured by Adam Hart-Davis to be a coincidence of his surname. The occupational name Crapper is a variant spelling of Cropper. In the US, the word crapper is a dysphemism for "toilet". The term first appeared in print in the 1930s. It has been suggested that US soldiers while stationed in the britain during World War I (some of whom had little experience with indoor plumbing) saw many toilets printed with "T. Crapper" in the glaze and brought the word home as a synonym for "toilet" — a sort of back-formation from "crap". This suggestion, however, overlooks the fact that "crapper" was a well-established word long before that time.
Yet another purported explanation is that Thomas Crapper's flush toilet advertising was so widespread, and the business name "T. Crapper & Co. Ltd, Chelsea". was seen on so many toilets, that "crapper" became a synonym for "toilet" and people simply assumed that he was the inventor.
Subjects may be referred to as "crap", used synomymously to words such as "rubbish", "baloney", or "hogwash". Examples may include: "This apple is crap", or "Your arguments are crap". (On the other hand, "Bob is having a crappy day", or "My dog just crapped all over the kitchen counter", etc.)