# Restrooms **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 31, 2009, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251 "2009-05-31T09:31:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lonv166](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ec9cab/32.png) [@lonv166](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lonv166)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/1 "2009-05-31T09:31:56Z")
While living and working in Europe, I came across the term ‘loo’ and was told a slightly different story. Mind you, I did not hear this story from any Brits, in fact, many (Brits) I told were thrilled, quizical or stunned when they heard this story: The word ‘loo’ cam from when the English attacked the French at Waterloo. The French were so afraid they pissed in their pants. I have no idea if this is an accurate story, but, there you are. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/2 "2009-05-31T13:26:00Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, lonv. A link to the column you’re commenting on is appreciated. Providing one can be as simple as pasting the URL into your post, being sure to leave a blank space on either side of it. Like so: [Why do we call it the “john”? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/574/why-do-we-call-it-the-john) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/3 "2009-05-31T15:57:01Z")
Sorry, but the OP’s fable is exactly the kind of nonsense folk etymology that anybody who studies word origins quickly learns to pick up on a BS detector. There is exactly zero chance that it could be true. The biggest problem is that while loo sounds like an ancient term, it seems to have been coined by James Joyce in \*Ulysses \*in 1922 and didn’t pass into common slang until the 1940s. [World Wide Words](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-loo1.htm) has a better analysis of loo’s origin than Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/4 "2009-06-01T04:41:51Z")
I suspect the word was in circulation before Joyce used it. But if you accept that Joyce actually coined the term then you can’t deny some connection to Waterloo. Here’s the passage from _Ulysses_ that is cited in the OED > [@](#): > > STEPHEN: (MINCINGLY) I love you, sir darling. Speak you englishman tongue for DOUBLE ENTENTE CORDIALE. O yes, MON LOUP. How much cost? Waterloo. Watercloset. (HE CEASES SUDDENLY AND HOLDS UP A FOREFINGER) Elsewhere in the book, Joyce mentions a “loo table” but this has no apparent connection to the toilet sense of the word. A loo table is just a table used for playing the card game of loo, which long predates Joyce’s time. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/5 "2009-06-01T14:58:02Z")
Perhaps, but that’s a different connection. **lonv166** is arguing direct descent of the term, whereas what you are proposing is wordplay on the part of Joyce. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/6 "2009-06-02T19:09:18Z")
In the carnival world, the name for toilet is “Donniker.” I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/7 "2009-06-02T22:47:45Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I suspect the word was in circulation before Joyce used it. But if you accept that Joyce actually coined the term then you can’t deny some connection to Waterloo. No kidding. I wouldn’t have taken you for one of the people who don’t bother to read linked cites. > [@](#): > > But James Joyce may equally well have derived the expression as a punning reference to the battle of Waterloo, from the sequence: water closet — waterloo — loo. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/8 "2009-06-03T11:01:03Z")
Just noting that, in addition to Cecil’s column from 1985, there’s a current staff report that covers a few more euphemisms: [Why is it called a restroom, anyway? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2870/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway) ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/9 "2009-06-06T05:39:58Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Just noting that, in addition to Cecil’s column from 1985, there’s a current staff report that covers a few more euphemisms Speaking of which, I’m curious about the entry for “washroom”. Dex notes that it’s an Americanism; however, I’ve never heard that term used by an American, though it seems to be common in Canada. Is it a regionalism in the United States? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/10 "2009-06-06T08:13:09Z")
I note that **Dex** terms W.C. British. Didn’t Jack Paar’s infamous joke on the Tonight show hinge on W.C.? Would he have had to explain it to viewers, or is it, even if not used, generally understood in the US? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/11 "2009-06-06T15:10:22Z")
The term would have been well understood by the kind of audience Paar had, a mostly educated elite slice of the population. Most British terms have a fair amount of familiarity here even if they aren’t used regularly. 1960 was also close enough to WWII that millions of Americans would have been in Britain relatively recently. And the joke didn’t even use water closet, but the initials W.C. See the [complete text here](http://www.tvacres.com/censorship_jack.htm). ---
**Author:** ![ssoross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@ssoross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssoross)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/12 "2009-06-08T00:29:32Z")
I noticed one reference absent for the restroom (or whatever you want to call it) names. What about the “head”? Where does that come from; I thought that’s what they call in ocean-going ships, correct? ssoross ---
**Author:** ![celtan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@celtan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/celtan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/13 "2009-06-08T19:05:30Z")
The prow, or ship’s “head”, is where sailors sat to relieve themselves. In sailing ships, the wind direction carried the droppings away from the vessel. Had it been done in the stern, the wind would have smeared same all over the ship. That would make for an unhappy captain, an a potential keelhauling… : ) > [@ssoross](#): > > I noticed one reference absent for the restroom (or whatever you want to call it) names. What about the “head”? Where does that come from; I thought that’s what they call in ocean-going ships, correct? > > ssoross ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/14 "2009-06-10T19:08:10Z")
> [@lonv166](#): > > The word ‘loo’ cam from when the English attacked the French at Waterloo. The French were so afraid they pissed in their pants. > I have no idea if this is an accurate story, but, there you are. Ridiculous! Why would the French be afraid? They outnumbered the English, and had defeated them in most of the prior battles. Besides, the English didn’t attack the French, the battle started with the French attacking first. And they were winning, until the arrival of Prussian reinforcements for the British troops. Indeed, had Napoleon pushed the battle earlier, he would have already defeated the British and won the battle by the time the Prussians arrived. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/15 "2009-06-10T20:01:08Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Ridiculous! > Why would the French be afraid? They outnumbered the English, and had defeated them in most of the prior battles. The alleged derivation is ridiculous, but not for that reason; all that would matter would be the myth. > [@](#): > > Besides, the English didn’t attack the French, the battle started with the French attacking first. And they were winning, until the arrival of Prussian reinforcements for the British troops. Indeed, had Napoleon pushed the battle earlier, he would have already defeated the British and won the battle by the time the Prussians arrived. It’s a bit much to say that the French were winning. They had, after all, fallen back on the centuries-old French delusion that heavy cavalry trumps everything, and ran their horse into a meatgrinder while achieving very little. There is no doubt that, as the battle worked out, Blücher’s arrival was a key event, but there’s a fair chance that Waterloo (and perhaps a few day’s more campaigning afterwards) could have effectively destroyed Napoleon, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![gustp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gustp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gustp)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/16 "2009-06-13T18:38:27Z")
My wife and I travel extensivly in the USA and many times if you use the term, Washroom, no one knows what you are talking about. Also bathroom which is the most common name in Canada. They seem to call it a restroom in most states. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/17 "2009-06-14T17:45:13Z")
> [@gustp](#): > > Also bathroom which is the most common name in Canada. They seem to call it a restroom in most states. Actually, this differs depending on what social frame you’re operating in. If it’s a public location (or optionally, if you’re in polite company in a non-public location), it’s “restroom”. If you’re at home, it’s “bathroom”. ---
**Author:** ![Jerseyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Jerseyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerseyman)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/18 "2009-06-24T00:36:45Z")
This is very confusing where the bathroom and lavatory are different places, as they should be. You don’t want to be desperate while somebody else is in the bath. Loo probably comes from the alleged habit of shouting _Gardez l’eau_ in a strong Scottish accent as _Gardyloo_ while emptying the chamber-pot into the street. Why they should have shouted in bad French or whether they ever really did, I am not so sure. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/19 "2009-06-24T02:51:39Z")
> [@Jerseyman](#): > > Loo probably comes from the alleged habit of shouting _Gardez l’eau_ in a strong Scottish accent as _Gardyloo_ while emptying the chamber-pot into the street. Why they should have shouted in bad French or whether they ever really did, I am not so sure. No. Read my link in post #3. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251/20 "2009-06-24T03:09:02Z")
Actually, the probable sources of “loo” are:[ol] [li]“water closet” -\> “Waterloo” -\> “loo”, and[/li][li]_“lieux d’aisances”_ -\> “loo”[/li][/ol] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restrooms/498251.md?page=2)