quality:corruption
Name

The word heron first appeared in the English language around 1300, originating from Old French hairon, eron (12th century), earlier hairo (11th century), from Frankish haigiro or from Proto-Germanic *haigrô, *hraigrô.

Herons are also known as shitepokes / ˈ ʃ aɪ t p oʊ k /, or euphemistically as shikepokes or shypokes. Webster's Dictionary suggests that herons were given this name because of their habit of defecating when flushed.

The 1971 Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary describes the use of shitepoke for the small green heron of North America (Butorides virescens) as originating in the United States, citing a published example from 1853. The OED also observes that shiterow or shederow are terms used for herons, and also applied as derogatory terms meaning a thin, weakly person. This name for a heron is found in a list of game birds in a royal decree of James VI (1566–1625) of Scotland. The OED speculates that shiterow is a corruption of shiteheron.

Another former name was heronshaw or hernshaw, derived from Old French heronçeau. Corrupted to handsaw, this name appears in Shakespeare 's Hamlet. A possible further corruption took place in the Norfolk Broads, where the heron is often referred to as a harnser.