Re: CHAT Loo (was: Lavatories, bathrooms,...etc)
| From: | Peter Bleackley <peter.bleackley@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Monday, March 1, 2004, 11:12 |
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Staving Ray Brown:
>On Friday, February 27, 2004, at 02:11 PM, Peter Bleackley wrote:
>
>>Staving Tristan McLeay:
>[snip]
>
>>>Only 'toilet' and 'loo' are in my active vocab, I
>>>think.
>>
>>"Loo" is from the Middle English "Gardy loo!", in turn derived from the
>>Norman French "Gardez l'eau!", the traditional warning given before
>>emptying the bucket out of the window.
>
>That's one _theory_ of the origin. Some version localize the cry "Gardez l'
>eau" as being peculiar to Edinburgh.
With the traditional counter-cry of "Haud yer hand!" shortly before being
soaked in "nastiness".
I have a great affection for folk etymology, generally finding the
picturesque preferable to the merely accurate. Anyone got any more good
folk etymologies?
Pete
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