<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT  SIZE=2>As I recall, "shitepoke" was in OED since the

<BR>14th Century.  Compounded of <U>shite</U>-, "shit;"

<BR>and -<U>poke</U>, "bag."   Usually referred to the blue

<BR>heron or a bittern.....(a satirical Boston broadside

<BR>of the early 1770's likened British troops disem-

<BR>barking to "shitepokes....running to and fro on the

<BR>beach.")

<BR>

<BR>Most people I talked to, in various parts of the country,

<BR>knew it as a bird-name.  One man told me tongue-in-

<BR>cheek that the name came from the bird's habit of

<BR>"defecating when flushed."

<BR>

<BR>Those who'd heard it applied to people generally found

<BR>the origin of the term in the fact that a "shitepoke" ma-

<BR>lingered, especially by spending inordinate amounts of

<BR>time in the bathroom when there was work to do.

<BR>

<BR>

<BR>                                                             Steve Hicks

<BR>

<BR>

<BR>                                                             Steve Hicks</FONT></HTML>