Number One, Number Two.

Factual Questions
1

Where did the convention start, that “number two” = bowel movement and “number one” = pee?

I did look it up once in my dictionary. It didn’t give an origin. But it did list it as “baby talk”. That one has me even more flustered. Because I still use it today. It actually is a very nice way of being delicate about it, when you have to.

BTW this reminds me of something funny, I might as well share with you.

When I was a little boy, I’d sometimes told my mother I had to go " number 3". What on earth does that mean?

Numbers one and two together. I.e., 1+2;).

But back to my point: where did it originate? And is it primarily baby talk? And while we’re at it, when did it originate, and who was the first to use it?

:slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

2

The Partridge Dictionary of Slanggives its first use in that sense in 1936, and its origin US.

It was certainly in common use when I was a kid in the 1950s.

In my experience, it’s used mostly in talking to kids. When adults use it, it’s mostly as a joke.

3

May I ask, when do find that this needs to be specified?

4

So far as I can recall, we did not use it when I was a kid in the U.K. (late baby boomer).

5

The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang also gives 1936 as the first citation for “number two” but has a 1902 citation for “number one”, in Slang and Its Analogues, a British publication. It does not suggest a derivation for either one. As a kid, I believed that “number one” = “urination” because the numeral is straight, like a penis.

6

I always assumed it was rhyming slang, number two = poo. Google shows a lot of other people have come up with the same folk etymology.

7

If pee were No.3 this hypothesis would be more credible.

8

What did the shape of the number 2 mean??! :eek:

9

Well, “number one” means “me” which rhymes with pee.

I’ll get me coat.

10

I agree that you’re number one. But then you = poo.

11

Your peacoat?

12

Maybe at this point, someone should come up with a list of euphemisms for defecation and urination. Here is a link to one:- http://www.koransky.com/other/euphemismsforrectalfunctions.txt

13

Any time that there are two people in need of using the same bathroom, getting an idea of how long the other person is likely to be in there is VERY helpful.

14

You may wish to indicate that the person you are talking to would be well to wait a certain amount of time before using the same bathroom. Sometimes it’s the kind thing to do. :slight_smile:

15

Why?

16

When I was in first grade (1944), if you had to go to the bathroom, you needed to raise your hand. It was “well known” that raising your hand with your index finger extended meant you had to pee, and with two fingers in a V meant you had to poo, and the teacher’s discretionary permission to leave the room was guided accordingly.

It was many, many years later before I ever heard Number One and Number Two used in conversation. I always presumed that the signal was a part of the practical workshop curriculum at the state normal school, where suitable young women were uniformly trained for the pedagogical profession.

17

Actually,
Farmer & Henley(UK) had both in their 1902 edition. Both listed as “Nursery.”

18

And when someone’s toilet is half-broken and should not be dumped in.

19

Way back when he was funny (1960’s), Bill Cosby talked about Kindergarten and described the permission protocol as “one finger if you want to do one thing, two fingers if you want to do anything else.”