The most commonly cited reason for our use of the word loo is that it comes from the cry of "gardyloo!". This, in turn, comes from the French term "regardez l'eau", which translates literally as "watch out for the water".
What about 'John' in the same context? Loo is an Anglicisation in speech of French l'eau (water). The term was originally an euphemistic allusion to the chamberpot.
Medieval Lingo
At one point in time these names began to be used for describing a small, smelly restroom area inside of a house. Only the very wealthy had jakes/jacks inside of their homes—most others were located somewhere outside. The name “John” was later derived from “Jake” and “Jack.”
Loo is an informal yet polite British term for toilet. The word “loo” has interesting origins and can be traced back to Medieval Europe, when chamber pots had to be emptied from bedroom windows onto the street below.
loo 1. (luː ) noun. British an informal word for lavatory (sense 1)
In America, they refer to the toilet as the bathroom. To actually use the word toilet is considered slightly bad form. That begs the question, however, where did the word loo come from and why is it so particular to us Brits?
In the United Kingdom, “the loo” is a common term for toilet. 'The loo' is generally a safe term to use and likely won't offendanyone. 'Lavatory' is a good option for people looking for a very formal word to use in very formal occasions.
Crapper. A rather more vulgar word for toilet is 'crapper'. First appearing in 1932, crapper became a popular alternative word for toilet thanks to the Thomas Crapper & Co Ltd company that manufactured toilets.
In Irish slang, “the jacks” refers to the bathroom or toilet. For example, if someone says, “I'll be back in a minute; I just need to go to the jacks,” they simply mean they're heading to the restroom.
Instead of using “toilet,” royals use the word “loo” when they need to use the facilities.
The toilets displayed the company logo 'Thomas Crapper & Co Ltd'. The US soldiers stationed in England at the time started referring to the toilet as “the Crapper” and brought that slang term back with them to the United States. The slang word for toilet became more widely taken up and is still being used today.
ladies' room. [also L- r-] a restroom or lavatory (sense 2) lavatory (sense 2a) for women.
Larger houses often have a secondary room with a toilet and sink for use by guests. These are typically known as "powder rooms" or "half-baths" (half-bathroom) in North America, and "cloakrooms" in Britain.
One of the most commonly known and albeit, cruder terms has to be the “bog”. To simply put it, the term “bog” comes from quite a literal sense back in 1789 from the 'boghouse', which is British slang meaning to defecate. We warned you it was literal!
In the 19th Century, the word toilet was not uttered in polite society, nor were the bodily functions associated with the use of a toilet. In order to avoid that, the term 'water closet' was invented to describe the then-new flush lavatory, particularly in public places.
Canadians use the term “washroom” to mean toilet facilities that are usually in a public place, while they used “bathroom” to designate a private facility, for example, in someone's home, according to McGill University linguistics professor Dr.
Shiftin'—This term refers to kissing or making out with someone, usually used by younger generations. If someone asks, “Did you have any luck shiftin' last night?” they're inquiring about your romantic or physical encounters.
The Irish have a saying, “wet the tea” and it simply means to get a kettle going and start brewing some tea. The Irish take their tea pretty seriously; in fact, Ireland is the second-largest consumer of tea in the world, just behind Turkey.
Powder room, commode
A less genteel Southern-ism for the bathroom is “commode.” While more widely it's used to refer to a ship's bathroom, in the South, it's just any toilet, land-bound or not.
Let's start properly. The usual alternative to toilet paper is toilet tissue, which makes it sound much softer. And of course lavatory paper, loo paper and dunny paper. As an aside, dunny has been immortalised in a number of slang phrases.
Toilet. This was on the original 1950s list and, to be honest, I'd rather chew glass than use the word toilet in polite conversation. It's a harsh word that was adapted from the French toilette which means your appearance, hence toiletries bag. Lavatory or loo is much more acceptable.
A urinal (US: /ˈjʊərənəl/, UK: /jʊəˈraɪnəl/) is a sanitary plumbing fixture similar to a toilet, but for urination only. Urinals are often provided in men's public restrooms in Western countries (less so in Muslim countries).
(dʒɒn ) noun. mainly US and Canadian a slang word for lavatory (sense 1)