Online Etymology Dictionary

shit (v.): O.E. scitan, from P.Gmc. *skit-, from PIE *skheid- "split, divide, separate." Related to shed (v.) on the notion of "separation" from the body (cf. L. excrementum, from excernere "to separate"). It is thus a cousin to science and conscience. The noun is O.E. scitte "purging;" sense of "excrement" dates from 1585, from the verb. Despite what you read in an e-mail, "shit" is not an acronym. The notion that it is a recent word may be because the word was taboo from c.1600 and rarely appeared in print (neither Shakespeare not the KJV has it), and even in "vulgar" publications of the late 18c. it is disguised by dashes. It drew the wrath of censors as late as 1922 ("Ulysses" and "The Enormous Room"), scandalized magazine subscribers in 1957 (a Hemingway story in "Atlantic Monthly") and was omitted from some dictionaries as recently as 1970 ("Webster's New World"). Extensive slang usage; verb meaning "to lie, to tease" is from 1934; that of "to disrespect" is from 1903. Noun use for "obnoxious person" is since at least 1508; meaning "misfortune, trouble" is attested from 1937. Shat is a humorous past tense form, not etymological, first recorded 18c. Shite, now a jocular or slightly euphemistic variant, formerly a dialectal variant, reflects the vowel in the O.E. verb (cf. Ger. scheissen). Shit-faced "drunk" is 1960s student slang; shit list is from 1942. To not give a shit "not care" is from 1922; up shit creek "in trouble" is from 1937. Scared shitless first recorded 1936.
"The expression [the shit hits the fan] is related to, and may well derive from, an old joke. A man in a crowded bar needed to defecate but couldn't find a bathroom, so he went upstairs and used a hole in the floor. Returning, he found everyone had gone except the bartender, who was cowering behind the bar. When the man asked what had happened, the bartender replied, 'Where were you when the shit hit the fan?' " [Hugh Rawson, "Wicked Words," 1989]
shyster: "unscrupulous lawyer," 1843, U.S. slang, probably altered from Ger. Scheisser "incompetent worthless person," from Scheisse "shit," from O.H.G. skizzan "to defecate" (see shit).
gore (n.): O.E. gor "dirt, dung, shit," a Gmc. word (cf. M.Du. goor "filth, mud;" O.N. gor "cud;" O.H.G. gor "animal dung"), of uncertain origin. Sense of "clotted blood" (especially shed in battle) developed by 1563.
not: negative particle, c.1250, unstressed variant of noht, naht "in no way" (see naught). As an interjection to negate what was said before or reveal it as sarcasm, it is first attested 1900; popularized 1989 by "Wayne's World" sketches on "Saturday Night Live" TV show. To not know X from Y (one's ass from one's elbow, shit from Shinola, etc.) was a construction first attested c.1930. Shinola was a brand of shoe polish. Double negative construction not un- was derided by Orwell, but is persistent and ancient in English, popular with Milton and the Anglo-Saxon poets.
jack (n.): late 14c., jakke "a mechanical device," from the name Jack. Used by 14c. for "any common fellow" (mid-14c.), and thereafter extended to various appliances replacing servants (1570s). Used generically of men (jack-of-all-trades, 1610s), male animals (1620s, see jackass, jackdaw, etc.), and male personifications (1520s, e.g. Jack Frost). The jack in a pack of playing cards (1670s) is in Ger. Bauer "peasant." Jackhammer is from 1930. Jack shit "nothing at all" is 1970s southern U.S. student slang. The jack of Union Jack is a nautical term for a small flag at the bow of a ship (1630s).
turd: O.E. tord, from P.Gmc. *turdam (cf. M.Du. torde "piece of excrement," O.N. tord-yfill, Du. tort-wevel "dung beetle"), from PIE *drtom, pp. of base *d(e)r- "flay, tear," thus "that which is separated (or torn off) from the body" (cf. shit from root meaning "to split"). As a type of something worthless and vile, it is attested from c.1250; meaning "despicable person" is recorded from c.1450.
"A tord ne yeue ic for eu alle" ["The Owl and the Nightingale," c.1250]

"Alle thingis ... I deme as toordis, that I wynne Crist." [Wyclif, Phil. iii.8, 1382; KJV has "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord"]
tough: O.E. toh "difficult to break or chew," from P.Gmc. *tankhuz (cf. M.L.G. tege, M.Du. taey, Du. taai, O.H.G. zach, Ger. zäh). See rough for spelling change. Figurative sense of "strenuous, difficult, hard to beat" is first recorded c.1200; that of "hard to do, trying, laborious" is from 1619. The noun meaning "street ruffian" (U.S.) is from 1866. Toughen is attested from 1580s. Verb tough it "endure the experience" is first recorded 1830, Amer.Eng. Tough guy first recorded 1932. Tough-minded first recorded 1907 in William James. Tough luck first recorded 1912; tough shit is from 1946.
pot (1): "vessel," from late O.E. pott and O.Fr. pot, both from a general Low Gmc. and Romanic word from V.L. *pottus, of uncertain origin, said by OED to be unconnected to L.L. potus "drinking cup" (c.600). Celtic forms are said to be borrowed from Eng. and French. Slang meaning "large sum of money staked on a bet" is attested from 1823. Potbellied is first attested 1657; potholder is from 1928. Pot roast is from 1881; pot-pie is 1823, Amer.Eng.; phrase go to pot (16c.) suggests cooking. Potboiler in the literary sense is 1864, from notion of something one writes just to put food on the table. Potted in the fig. sense of "put into a short, condensed form" is attested from 1866. In phrases, the pot calls the kettle black-arse is from c.1700; shit or get off the pot is traced by Partridge to Canadian armed forces in World War II.
shoot (v.): O.E. sceotan "to shoot" (class II strong verb; past tense sceat, pp. scoten), from P.Gmc. *skeutanan (cf. O.S. skiotan, O.N. skjota, O.Fris. skiata, Du. schieten, Ger. schießen), from PIE base *skeud- "to shoot, to chase, to throw, to project" (cf. Skt. skundate "hastens, makes haste," O.C.S. iskydati "to throw out," Lith. skudrus "quick, nimble"). Meanings "send forth swiftly" and "wound with missiles" were in O.E. In ref. to pool playing, the verb is attested from 1926. Meaning "to inject by means of a hypodermic needle" is attested from 1914. Meaning "photograph" (especially a movie) is from 1890. As an interjection, an arbitrary euphemistic alteration of shit, it is recorded from 1934. Shooting star first recorded 1593. Shoot the breeze "chat" first recorded 1941. Shoot to kill first attested 1867.
sad: O.E. sæd "sated," from P.Gmc. *sathaz (cf. O.N. saðr, M.Du. sat, Du. zad, O.H.G. sat, Ger. satt, Goth. saþs "satiated"), from PIE *seto- (cf. L. satis "enough, sufficient," O.C.S. sytu, Lith. sotus, O.Ir. saith "satiety"), from base *sa- "satisfied" (cf. Skt. a-sinvan "insatiable"). Sense development seems to have passed through a meaning "heavy," and "weary, tired of" before emerging c.1300 as "unhappy." An alternative course would be through "steadfast, firm," and "serious" to "grave." In the main modern sense, it replaced O.E. unrot, negative of rot "cheerful, glad." Slang sense of "inferior, pathetic" is from 1899; sad sack is 1920s, popularized by World War II armed forces (specifically by cartoon character invented by Sgt. George Baker, 1942, and published in U.S. Armed Forces magazine "Yank"), probably a euphemistic shortening of common military slang phrase sad sack of shit. The verb sadden "to make sorrowful" is from 1600; earlier form was sade, from O.E. sadian.
four: O.E. feower, from P.Gmc. *petwor- (cf. O.S. fiwar, O.Fris. fiuwer, Frank. fitter-, Du. and Ger. vier, O.N. fjorir, Dan. fire, Sw. fyra), from PIE *qwetwor (cf. Skt. catvarah, Avestan čathwaro, Pers. čatvar, Gk. tessares, L. quattuor, Oscan petora, O.C.S. četyre, Lith. keturi, O.Ir. cethir, Welsh petguar). The phonetic evolution of the Gmc. forms has not been fully explained. Fourteen is O.E. feowertyne. Slang four-eyes "person who wears glasses" first recorded 1874. Four-flusher is 1904, from verb four-flush "to bluff a poker hand, claim a flush with only four cards in the suit" (1896). Four-letter word first attested 1934; four-letter man, however, is recorded from 1923 (as a euphemism for a shit). A four-in-hand (1793) was a carriage with four horses driven by one person; in the sense of "loosely tied necktie" it is attested from 1892. To study The History of the Four Kings (1760, cf. Fr. Livres des Quatre Rois) contains euphemistic slang phrase for "a pack of cards" from the time when card-playing was considered a wicked pastime for students. Slang 4-1-1 is from the telephone number called to get customer information.