Toilet: Encyclopedia II - Toilet - Etymology

Toilet - Etymology

The word toilet came to be used in English along with other French fashions (first noted 1681), and originally referred to the whole complex of operations of hairdressing and body care that centered on a dressing table covered to the floor with cloth (toile) and lace, on which stood a dressing glass, which might also be draped in lace: the ensemble was a toilette. Alexander Pope in The Rape of the Lock (1717) described the intricacies of a lady's preparation:

Through the 18th century, everywhere in the English-speaking world, a toilet remained a lady's draped dressing-table. The word was adapted as a genteel euphemism for water-closet, perhaps following the French usage cabinet de toilette, much as powder-room may be coyly used today, and this has been linked to the introduction of public toilets, for example on railway trains, which required a plaque on the door. The original usage has become indelicate and largely replaced by dressing-table.

Vestiges of the original meaning continue to be reflected in terms such as toiletries and eau de toilette. This seemingly contradictory terminology has served as the basis for various parodies ranging from Jeff Foxworthy's routine ("If you think that "toilet water" is in fact toilet water, you just might be a redneck!") to Cosmopolitan magazine ("If it doesn't say 'eau de toilette' on the label, it most likely doesn't come from the famed region of Eau de Toilette en France and might not even come from toilets at all.")

The word toilet itself may be considered an impolite word in the United States, whilst elsewhere the word is used without any embarrassment. This substitution implies that toilet is a lower-class word even in their marketing: American Standard, the largest manufacturer, sells them as "toilets", yet the higher priced products of the Kohler Company, often installed in higher classes of homes, are sold in the catalog as "commodes" or "closets". When referring to the room or the actual piece of equipment, the word toilet is often substituted with other euphemisms and dysphemisms. See toilet humor.

As old euphemisms have become accepted, they have been progressively replaced by newer ones, an example of the euphemism treadmill at work.

Toilet - Khazi

Lexicographer Eric Partridge derives khazi, also spelt karzy, kharsie or carzey, from a low Cockney word carsey originating in the late 19th century and meaning a privvy. Carsey also referred to a den or brothel. It's presumably derived from the Italian casa for house.

Toilet - Loo

The origin of the (chiefly British) term loo is unknown, but one theory is that it derives from a corruption of the French phrase gardez l'eau loosely translated as “watch out for the water!” The phrase served as a warning to passers-by when chamber pots were emptied from a window onto the street.

A much more plausible theory comes from nautical terminology; loo being an old fashioned word for lee. Early ships were not fitted with toilets but the crew would urinate over the side of the vessel. However it was important to use the leeward side. Using the windward side would result in the urine blown back on board. Even on modern yachts, most (male) yachtsmen, whilst at sea, find it more convenient to go to the loo, than to use the heads.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Etymology", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki