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Terd Vs. Turd, What Do These Mean? Are They Similar?

Terd Vs. Turd, What Do These Mean? Are They Similar?

The English language is full of terms and expressions. Sometimes we are not familiar with all of them. You would be surprised about the number of terms related to poop. This time, we will talk about terd and turd.

Terd and turd are nouns to refer to feces. You can use these terms as synonyms because there’s no difference between them.

If you look in the dictionary, you will find “terd” is a misspelling of “turd.” We will explain how people use these words linguistically. And also, we will talk about other important facts around feces.

Understanding The Terms Terd And Turd

Etymology

The word “turd” is a variation of the 5th-century word “tord.” This word descended from the proto-germanic term “turda.”

“Terd,” on the other hand, is a misspelled version of the word “turd.”

frozen cow turd in a field

Meaning

These nouns can have several meanings depending on the context you use them:

  1. Something of insignificant value or importance
  2. When you want to insult someone by comparing them to excrement
  3. Something of low quality

How People Use Them

People usually use these terms to refer to actual feces. It is a common term when people lack certain shame or feel comfortable in their environment. But you must understand these words are considered vulgar. There are other terms more appropriate you can use to talk about feces.

Additionally, people use “turd” to talk disrespectfully about people or things. When someone considers something is insignificant, they use this expression to belittle it.

Respect is a virtue. When you talk, make sure you use proper language.

How To Pronounce “Terd” And “Turd”

The pronunciation of these words is precisely the same. That’s the reason why people believe “terd” was born out of a misspelling of the word “turd.”

The IPA symbol of this word is /tɜːd/. This word has only one vowel sound, which is the same sound in the word “work.” Your lips take a smile form while your tongue sits at the bottom of your mouth. The sound comes out of your vocal cords, similar to the schwa sound, but longer.

The letter “r” is silent in this word.

Other Similar Terms

Here we have a list of synonyms that you can use instead of the word “turd.”

  • Feces
  • Excrement
  • Dirt
  • Poop

Also, we have made you a list of terms you can use whenever you want to refer to the act of defeating.

  1. Bomb the bowl, commonly used when someone has diarrhea.
  2. Sit on the throne; people use it, especially when teaching children to go to the restroom.
  3. Take the Browns to the Superbowl
  4. Drop a deuce in

Related Terms

There are other terms related to this word. Here we have some of them and their meaning:

  1. Manure/dung is the mixture of domesticated animal feces (cows, horses) and wood dust used in agriculture.
  2. Night soil is an old term people used to refer to the feces collected in buckets during the night for later disposal in the morning. This term is outmoded because most people have access to toilets.
  3. Another term for manure can be muck. There are a few phrases around this term:
    1. As common as muck, someone or something unsophisticated or belongs to a lower class.
    2. Make a muck of, to do, or craft something poorly.
    3. Where there’s muck, there’s brass, an old idiom that expresses dirty jobs usually pay a lot.
    4. Muck about, similar to “fool around.”
    5. Muck in to help someone finish up a task.
    6. Muck out to clean up feces.
    7. Muck up to ruin things.
  4. Scatology, this term refers to the study of biological information found in feces. In psychology, this term refers to the fixation on feces.

poop spelled on dark blue background

Common Questions

Here we have for you some common questions around “turds.”

Is “Turd” Profanity?

No, it is not considered swearing if you say “turd.” However, you may hurt someone’s sensibility.

Is Turd A Scrabble Word?

There are divided opinions about this question. But most sources agree it is a valid word.

What’s The Difference Between Turd And Poop?

Poop is more acceptable than “turd.” So when someone uses the latter, people don’t feel appalled because they consider it vulgar.

Is It Rude To Call Someone A Turd?

Yes, it definitely is. Referring to someone as a “turd” is disrespectful and extremely rude.

Uses Of Feces In Other Areas

Even though they are disgusting, people use feces for other purposes. We know that excrement usually goes to waste. But, scientific and empirical research has shown there are other uses to it.

Use Of Feces In Use Of Agriculture

As we mentioned above, people transform livestock feces into fertilizers. It is an excellent way farmers use animal waste to grow crops.

Some of the benefits of using feces as fertilizers include:

  1. It is an organic product.
  2. Improves the soil conditions
  3. Reduces pollution
  4. Contain nutrients the animal couldn’t absorb

How Feces Become Manure

Here we give you few steps on how to select the correct elements for your manure:

  1. First, choose between composted or fresh manure.
    1. Composted manure contains fewer nutrients but is also less aggressive to your crops.
    2. Fresh manure is high in nutrients, but it will attract flies, and it will have a strong smell.
  2. Pick the animal manure you need.
    1. Grass-fed animals (horses, cows, etc.)
    2. Pigs manure
    3. Poultry (chicken, hens, etc.)
  3. Choose your green leaves, grass, wood dust, and straw.

Once you have selected the ingredients, it is just a matter of combining them into a 1:1 ratio.

  • If you are using fresh manure, you will be combining it with wood dust or straws.
  • If you are using composted manure, you will be mixing it with green leaves or grass.

Use Of Feces In Gastronomy

Believe it or not, feces have also played a role in gastronomy. For instance, we have exquisite coffee beans out of excrement.

Kopi Luwak

Also known as civet coffee, it is a coffee bean collected out of the excrement of the Asian civet. These small mammals eat ripe coffee cherries. The coffee beans get fermented into the animal’s digestive tract. And once the civet defecates, it will poop out the entire beans.

This coffee is considered a delicacy that is not mass-produced. People pay up to $500 per Kg. Producers would mostly look for wild civets poop to find the beans.

Use Of Feces In Fuel Development

Several researchers have found human waste can help climate change. For example, certain bacterias can decompose human feces to turn them into fuel.

Excrements contain methane. Methane is a natural gas that can easily replace charcoal in developing countries. So some people are talking about a million-dollar industry that can help us with climate change.

Methane is also released during the manuring process. Some companies around the world are investing in digester tanks. These tanks are part of an infrastructure that transforms cows’ waste into manure while extracting the methane.

Final Thoughts About The Terms “Terd” And “Turd”

“Terd” and “turd” are similar to each other. They both refer to human and animal excrement. But, some people use these terms as an insult.

You have to be careful when using these words. Other more polite alternatives include feces, excrement, dirt, and poop.

Excrements shouldn’t always go to waste. For instance, agriculture takes advantage of livestock excrement. However, manure or dung have been around for a while. It shows how humans have been looking forward to reutilizing waste.

Human waste also has its use. For example, scientific research has shown how we could put our excrement into use to create fuel.