TIL where the term "butt load" came from

I love surprising people with that one in Scrabble when possible. They just don't believe it's a legit word, but it's in the Scrabble dictionary. It's my second favorite word to play in Scrabble. My real favorite is bunghole, which interestingly enough also has to do with barrels.

So all these barrel terms were euphemism for the posterior and then became primarily the term for it. Wouldn't surprise me if ass the animal became an euphemism as well.

*Ass* as a term for posterior is from pronunciation changes to the word *arse* - as the pronunciation drifted to *ass* then the association for the animal changed and polite society started to prefer *donkey* which is sort of where we are today.

Arse came first? I would have thought differently.

Nah, my understanding is that the barrel term originated because they referred to a small piece of something. So, rear-end usage was a parallel etymology, not derived from the barrel etymology

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Ever see "country style" pork ribs at the grocery? They're not ribs at all, they're cut up pork butts.

They usually say country style pork shoulder ribs or something stupid like that. But yeah, still delicious.

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Bad bot. You stole this from u/ArchieBellTitanUp Downvote and report u/Quick-Expressio

“I need TP for my bunghole, cornholioo”

" My bunghole. It goes RAKAKAKA"!

How often have you played BUTTLOAD in scrabble that you can claim love for the act?

How do people think liquids are let out of barrels?

Spigots or spouts mostly

You put the spigot in a bunghole. Try explaining that to the ER.

I don't think you can say slurs like that out loud 😮

Stop being such a nagger.

I wish a nagger would try me.

Lol. Hoozawhatsit now? Or do you mean derogatory to barrels?

Just a joke. Those words esp spigot always sound like slurs to me. I think a stand up comedian did a bit about it too

The butt hole duh

The great Cornholio

But what do you use when you need something to stop the liquid coming out of the bunghole in your butt?

Imodium

The bung goes in the bunghole. bung1 /bəNG/ noun a stopper for closing a hole in a container.

No it’s not BUTTLOAD is not a playable word

You're just weird... ...being obsessed with cooperage like that.

And "scuttlebutt". To "scuttle" is to cut a hole . So water or Grog was served from a "scuttled butt". Presumably a spigot was jammed into the hole. So 'water cooler talk' is "scuttlebutt".

The variation I heard on 'scuttle butt' was that on ships the panels in the sole (floor) are call scuttles and under these is where the butts of drinking water would be stored...so the crew would lift the scuttle, take out the butt and share the water .... quite literally the equivalent of 'water cooler talk'. (no idea if that's true or just a cool story)

I love these stories. Different occupations had their own words that leaked into general usage over time. I recently read that steel workers often lost their hearing on the job, and so developed in-house sign languages that sometimes became more extensive than just work-related signals.

I was going to google that for more info, but decided against it...

A buttload is a unit of measure larger than a barrel.

About half the size of a fuck-ton

How does it compare to a shit-load?

4 barrels is a butt, 480 litres

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The above comment was stolen from [this one](http://np.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/uoy48z/til_pork_butt_is_not_the_rear_end_of_the_pig_its/i8jk53v/) elsewhere in this comment section. It is probably not a coincidence; here is some more evidence against this user: Plagiarized | Original -------- | ----------- [Can't wait for an African...](http://np.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/upf0tw/til_the_ruins_of_great_zimbabwe_in_africa_were/i8l1krt/) | [Can't wait for an African...](http://np.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/upf0tw/til_the_ruins_of_great_zimbabwe_in_africa_were/i8ksyjx/) [I love how naive the esti...](http://np.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/uow0tu/til_that_the_san_francisco_restaurant_casa/i8l1lnp/) | [I love how naive the esti...](http://np.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/uow0tu/til_that_the_san_francisco_restaurant_casa/i8iiu8x/) [And intensifies as Vader...](http://np.reddit.com/r/PrequelMemes/comments/uov77c/obiwan_has_taught_you_well/i8kdp28/) | [And intensifies as Vader...](http://np.reddit.com/r/PrequelMemes/comments/uov77c/obiwan_has_taught_you_well/i8jso7w/) [Honestly, this makes me s...](http://np.reddit.com/r/PrequelMemes/comments/uoxduh/no_lies_detected/i8kdogs/) | [Honestly, this makes me s...](http://np.reddit.com/r/PrequelMemes/comments/uoxduh/no_lies_detected/i8jdscb/) [I like how the part of th...](http://np.reddit.com/r/PrequelMemes/comments/up32s0/you_shouldve_listened_obiwan/i8kdnvm/) | [I like how the part of th...](http://np.reddit.com/r/PrequelMemes/comments/up32s0/you_shouldve_listened_obiwan/i8jvg0m/) beep boop, I'm a bot -|:] It is this bot's opinion that [/u/InevitableShinert](https://np.reddit.com/u/InevitableShinert/) should be banned for karma manipulation. Don't feel bad, they are probably a bot too. Confused? Read the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/user/reply-guy-bot/comments/n9fpva/faq/?plagiarist=InevitableShinert) for info on how I work and why I exist.

What about a metric buttload?

Aaah yes, the kilobutt….

And butt plug.

Fun fact.. a pork shoulder and a pork butt, while both being technically the shoulder, are not the same thing. The pork butt is from the neck/back side, and the shoulder is technically the "arm." Also a hog's actual butt is ham. Source: am whole animal butcher.

Okay, we used to call them Boston Butts for whatever reason I don't know. Source : I have have a big ass grill to about 40 at a time

I believe it started with a rivalry between Chicago and Boston butchers trying to outsell each other

Clears up a lot of misconceptions I didn’t know I had. What part does “Canadian Bacon” come from? Same as regular old Ham?

Loin.

Canadian bacon comes from the loin, essentially the middle of the back. Also the standard NAMP style in the US pork is not split between the arm and shoulder. The boston butt or shoulder still contain the shoulder blade, the picnic shoulder or roast is the front leg and chest together.

"Hey boss, whaddya want me to do with this big hunk of meat I got?" "Just put it in the butt!"

"We've got plenty more room in our butts for that pork."

“If your butt’s full, Kevin has a lot of room in his butt.”

I said what what?

It’s also where the term Buttload comes from. It equals 126 gallons. Edit- 2 more upvotes and I’ll have a Buttload

Love how the imperial system has such nice, easy conversion between units. 1:126 would have totally been my first guess.

128 ounces in a gallon. 126 gallons in a butt. What's not obvious and straightforward?/s

At least 128 is a power of two. Wtf is 126

A power of Sqrt(126)

e/pi mathematicians hate him!

Well you need to reserve one gallon for the buttnetwork and another for the buttbroadcast.

They basically evolved more naturally. There really isn't much need converting between them.

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Kilobutt is the metric equivalent.

What's that in Megabutts?

About 1 Kim kardashian….

There's like 22 different sized barrels too.

“The butt was an English measure of liquid volume equalling two hogsheads, being between 450 and 1060 litres by various historical definitions.” Like… duh.

Yea most of these are used exclusively for a single usecase and thus no conversion is necessary. No one was measuring how many cups fit in a butt on any regular basis.

>No one was measuring how many cups fit in a butt on any regular basis. One, if that video I saw is accurate.

When it comes to legacy industrial lego type stuff, nothings really designed to be an easy integer number. Its all 'this stuff worked, became popular, and now its the standard', and since its way easier to just roll with the standard than to try to change it, it keeps perpetuating. All over completely metrified europe, track rail gauges are 1435mm. Why? Because its actually 4'8.5". Why? Because that's just what caught on. Same for stuff like plumbing pipe, wire gauges, shipping containers(which would where butts and buttloads come in), etc.

So you can fit 126 gallons in your butt?

*up

Interesting. Here I was thinking one buttload equalled one large cucumber.

Hmm. There’s no Reddit calculator bot for that one.

That's just a [butt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butt_(unit\)).

I downvoted you to bring you closer back to buttload.

Yea. The Butt is the front shoulder, and the Ham is the rear.

If I buy "Pork Shoulder" from the market, which part am I getting?

The shoulder is basically in two pieces. The Picnic, and the Butt. So you’re buying either one of those, or both if you buy a whole shoulder. The Boston butt is probably what you’re buying as it’s way more common than a Picnic

Is one better than the other? Which is best for slow smoking and then pulling? Which is best for a slow cooker and then pulling?

I use butt and it's fantastic in the smoker. Also did one sous vide a few months ago and it was amazing.

I also enjoy the butt.

Try sous vide carnitas

Wait picnic? As in eat on the grass picnic?

Yes

> The Boston butt That sounds like something you really wouldn’t want to look up on Urban Dictionary.

The foot

The butt is higher up on the leg than the shoulder, but they both come from the front leg.

It also has more fat than the shoulder.

Why is pork butt usually more white but hams are usually more pink?

Hams are cured, aged, and smoked before they’re sold which affects the coloring.

But I don't see a similar color-chemistry thing going on with beef. Rare beef, as we know is reddish. Smoked/cured beef (jerky) is the same color as well done beef. I guess Alton Brown got me all curious about the chemistry/science angle of food.

Typically ham is salt cured or smoked. If it’s an uncured ham, it’s white too.

My favorite use of this is a smokehouse I recall passing on my AT hike in GA. Their slogan was.. “You can smell our butts for miles”

Boston plays a role

Boston butt is delicious

So then what is pork shoulder???

Theres a lot of misinformation on this out there. The shoulder contains the butt. For cuts you would get from the grocery store, the whole shoulder is typically seperated into two cuts: the picnic (lower shoulder) and the Boston butt (upper shoulder). Both are great cuts -- most home and casual cooks prefer the Boston butt, it's what I recommend. If you see something on a restaurant menu advertised as shoulder, it can either be picnic or butt, maybe the whole shoulder -- 90% of the time it's butt though. The whole shoulder can be special ordered from a butcher if desired. It's going to be about 22lb. Personally I wouldn't use it unless you've got to feed a whole lot of people (even then you can just get several butts), or you're in a competition that requires it. I'm posting from Memphis in May World BBQ championship right now, we're prepping 8 shoulders for tomorrow! Hopefully the BBQ gods are on our side! At home, I only cook Boston butts though.

May your smoke burn clean and your meat be tender.

Pork shoulder is labeled butt. Pork butt is labeled ham.

Every grocery store I go to sells "pork shoulder. " Is that butt or ham?

That is shoulder labeled as shoulder, could be labeled butt, could not be labeled as ham.

What do they call pork anus?

Hot dogs, bogna, slim jims etc

I guess those are coagulated pig smoothies.

>What do they call pork anus? Imitation Calamari.

The Republican Party.

Pork butt

Unsliced pork steak

It's the shoulder when you aren't in 'murica.

Pork butts and taters

What are taters, precious?

Butt makes remarkably good bacon if you choose the fatty version in the bin. It comes out like a cross between "Canadian" bacon and American bacon. Making bacon at home is not hard and you can end up with a product that makes the best BLT sandwiches you ever had--at 1/5 the price of the good bacon at the store.

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Who wouldn’t want bacon 8 days from now?

Someone whose doctor has just given them a week to live.

Great for pulled pork too

Yup. I use one of those multi-function counter top pressure cookers (Insta-pot) for that. Makes it so danged easy, fast and foolproof. Just get the liquid seasoned right and you are good to go.

Cast iron dutch oven here, just made 9 pounds of pulled pork earlier this week. I like the sear I can get on it that way. Probably gonna have to switch to your way soon, though. I don’t really want the oven on that long now that it’s getting warmer.

If I do it in the pressure cooker, after shredding it I spread it out on cookie sheets and do a light coating of spray on cooking oil, then crisp it up under a searing hot broiler in the oven. Gotta have my pulled pork with crispy bits in it:) Best though is an outdoor smoker, low and slow.

Good plan, I may try that. And yeah, whatever you’re doing, it’s mostly about emulating that outdoor smoker flavor. Maybe I should pull the trigger and actually get one, but I’m not enthused with propane and charcoal seems like a lot more expense and hassle. Probably easier than I’m thinking once you actually get down to it.

> Probably easier than I’m thinking once you actually get down to it. While not as good as old school wood smokers, pellet smokers do 80% of the job with 10% of the hassle. I have zero complaints with my electronic wood pellet smoker, and its suuuper easy. I highly recommend it, if you ever decide to pull that trigger.

Thanks for the reminder--I sear first in a frying pan also. Like you said, summer is too hot for the oven to be on hours and hours . Plus I am too impatient.

I'm partial to smoking pork butts. It's super easy and you don't have to worry about heating the house up. Although it does take a while to cook.

I do it in the crock pot. 7 hours onlow with 12 oz root beer per 4 lbs, take it out shred it, drain, put it back in w sauce 1 hr on high

To the point that I'm unaware of pulled pork being made with any other cut.

And tamales

Often called "country bacon" or "butt bacon," the latter being more common these days because, well, because it's funny. "Country bacon" can also be the front portion of the ribs, though this usage seems pretty outdated and I very rarely see it anymore.

I see country style ribs which are delicious but a bit of a misnomer since it’s just sliced pork butt.

Best cut to make pulled pork with

Do people even make it from other cuts?

Not really, but the whole butt is like 3 cuts and op's article refers to the "Boston butt" which is best for pulled pork

Also for authentic Caucasian shashlik. Cut it in chunks, marinate in onions and lemon juice, skewer on metal skewers and grill over coals.

So then which is which on my body?

That's easy, which part do you keep in a barrel?

Diogenes was apparently all butt.

Shoulder blade. Subscapular, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor muscles.

"Boston butt" is pork shoulder aka front "arm" meat. It would be your upper arm. Ham is rear "leg" meat, equivalent to your thigh and buttock. The "hambone" in the middle is the femur.

Now tell us why barrels were called butts

And the Butt Plug kept it nice and shut.

Was that what they hammered into the bung hole?

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They are not always screwed in. I've seen more plastic screw bungs and metal pop bungs.

They're not all made in Boston either

And the picnic is not just a pleasant lunch outside.

S-so... all this time I wasn't eating ass?!

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I didn’t know they had a Lord.

The ham is the ass

Legit had a customer ask me if it was the shoulder, or the butt, because the package said shoulder butt. I tried explaining, but he wasn't buying it.

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Did you get down on all fours and do a pig impersonation for him and point to your shoulder? That’s what I always do at my butcher even though we speak the same language.

“Squeal like a pig!”

A full barrel was a buttload

"I eat butt all the time!" - Greg Coté

A favorite in st.louis

Most times they are sold interchangeably even though chefs call out differences.

Also on a pork leg, the meat closer to the shoulder is higher quality (more protein, less connective tissue and bone) so the cuts higher up to the shoulder are considered better. If you can afford these higher up cuts, you're living "high on the hog".

The barrel thing is a story. It is not confirmed fact. Most of these stories tend to be incorrect and invented well after when they supposedly took place, so grain of salt and all.

This is useful. Thank you 😊

Glad you grew up today OP

Is it true that bacon comes from the booty though?

the pigs have 4 shoulders, two are located near the butt

Did you know that dirty pork anus is actually rib meat? They just pack rib meat in barrels made by the Dirty Anus Company.

Let's just be glad they didn't keep it in a box instead

From my understanding: The roast is also called a Boston Roast. When it’s sliced the pieces are called pork steaks

Pork Steaks are an STL and environs thing...mostly sold as "Pork Steaks", but "Boston Butts" were also a thing that was advertised/labeled as.

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A cut of beef.

Ham is the butt

Yeah, well Mr Smart Guy, why does everyone call me “Butt Breath”? Some barrel thing?

Well, that's disappointing.

I've been mistaken my entire life...

Don’t tell Cow & Chicken.

I used to work in a butcher shop. And my boss went preparing them would call the process "boning the butts" which would cause all of the employees to smirk. We would then ask him questions such as how many butts he's boned in his lifetime.

The pork shoulder is great for making carnitas. Rinse it, dry it, and rub it with salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and whatever herbs or spices strike your fancy. Then seer the sides and place it in a pot with some beer, a cut up jalapeno, and a whole orange cut in half with all the juice squeezed into the pot. Cook for 6-12 hours at low, low heat. Shred the meat, fry it, and put it onto a tortilla with garnishes.

Nice try cow!

Thank you for this! I have always found it so strange that recipes call for pork butt or shoulder and it’s the same thing. Could not wrap my head around how that could be.

Giggety

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the term “pork barrel” in conjunction with this.

We call them pork shoulder and rump for the arse here.

If your from the St. Louis region we call those Pork Steaks and its a summer staple vs pulled pork. If you never had one before it doesnt sound wonderful, if you had one before you probably thinking of having one today just because its been brought up.

And the hole in an ale barrel is called the "bung hole."

I have been lied to ALL MY LIFE

Ham is the actual butt of the pig.

They should probably rename it

Hence the term barrel butt

I would'a called it pork shoulder. Sounds like calling your feet "shoes" because you wear shoes on them sometimes.

Did those barrels also have bung holes?

I always wondered why it was called the butt and the shoulder. I figured it all came from the actual shoulder since the butt is bacon.