Shed Load

[propergomper]

Where does the phrase "a shed load" come from is it when a lorry sheds it load or something to do with garden storage? I really am stumped.

[brian j john]

i think it would be something you have enoughof to fill a shed

[heathfield]

It means a load that is or can be poured off, dropped off, or has fallen off. 'Shed' is the same as used in 'watershed' or a dog 'shedding' hairs onto the carpet.

[Quizmonster]

Chambers Dictionary lists 'shed-load' under the heading where 'shed' refers to the store-room/outhouse meaning rather than under the second meaning, where 'shed' refers to things dropping off. The two words, though superficially identical, come from totally different sources.
A shed, of course, needn't just be a little thing in a garden; there are, for example, massive naval structures referred to as 'submarine sheds'. So, a shed-load means a quantity notionally large enough to fill such a place.

[Thunderbird+]

I think this all started with traffic reports ie a lorry has shed it's load of butter on the A 84 or the A 84 has now been closed due to a shed load (unspecified) sometimes reported by motorists passing by.
Some people seem to use it nowa days just to mean a lot, I suppose it's adding a little humour to every day conversation

[CJ2]

I'll go with brian j john and Quizmonster.
I'm not with heathfield or Thunderbird+ on this.
I think it should be at least a medium sized shed or larger. Preferably quite large (or more).

I have only heard it used in a way that leads one to imagine a large warehouse-full of stuff. I think the questioner is missing an hyphen between 'shed' and 'load'. Its an adjectival phrase-word. (To 'shed a load' one would not need to hyphenate.)

[ETmolgy]

A 'shed load' refers to the scattering of goods on an open carriage way. Contemporarily this is often heard on traffic reports referring to a lorry spilling its contents onto the M25. However, it more likely originates from more antiquated transportation techniques such as potatoes on waggons, grain on carts or the like.
The general misconception is that the word 'shed' is used as an alternative to the more commonplace four letter swear word when commenting on the large quantity of one thing or another. It is more likely that the original expression 'a shed load' later became vulgarised to the now (unfortunately) more familiar vernacular 's@$t load'.
Thus the origin probably stems from the descriptive reference to an unanticipated, plentiful and most likely obstructive presence of objects that acts as a hinderence to normal processes, movement or transit. ie the 'shedding' of a load goods represents a 'shed load' (plentiful quantity) of unplanned disruptive materials...
...sounds a lot like my shed