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"Shit work" is a common enough phrase that it seemed appropriate to me.

A phrase is not deemed appropriate solely because it is common. There are and have been many inappropriate common phrases in use over the years.

The author had an interesting point, but I found his use of "shit work" over and over to be distasteful enough to not want to read his blog again. It is an overloaded and crass term that only served to hurt his otherwise interesting argument.

I felt it was appropriate because the phrase, even if it was crass, exactly captured what he was talking about. I like it when people use the best word or phrase to describe something, even if it's a crass phrase.

Perhaps "poo work" or "feces work" would have been more apropos.

But those are not well known phrases. If you mean "shit work," say "shit work." To do otherwise is bad writing.

When I think of shit work, I think of working in a manufacturing plant at one station for 12 hours a day, getting two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch. When I think of organizing lists on Twitter, well, I think of that as a fleeting annoyance at worst.

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