toilet or not toilet

[burston]

why do we sometimes call the toilet a loo ?

[Quizmonster]

Nobody knows but there may be a connection between the name 'Waterloo' and the idea of a water-closet. Alternatively, it may come from the French word 'lieu' meaning 'place' and hence the idea of a special, private place for one's bodily functions.

[inksplotter]

And of course there's gardez l'eau! -mind the water, when chucking water from a first floor. There's much more here: http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/mifloo.shtml

[4GS]

My first time in Germany I walked into the ladies toilet by mistake. I misread the sign on the door, and as I was a thick squaddie I thought 'Damen' was German for 'da men'

[dmsymr]

My Dad used to tell me it was when they used to chuck their waste out the window in medieval times...as inksplotter says, they used to shout 'Guardez l'eau' which litterally means 'watch the water' if my french serves me right. Its also where 'dont throw the baby out with the bathwater' comes from but thats for another thread!

[dmsymr]

Sorry, I only meant the phrase came from the same era, I wasnt suggesting they threw babies out of windows!

[Bellringer]

My understanding is that it comes from the term LEE as in the leeward or sheltered side of a boat. In other words don't p**s into the wind.
As they say in Cornwall "do ee go to looward"

[Quizmonster]

A detailed examination of all the possible origins of this word was published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1974. The writer, ASC Ross, favoured 'Waterloo' but could not definitively prove it. As a result, The Oxford English Dictionary, the 'bible' of word origins, says: "etymology obscure".
There are times when we just have to accept that there is no certain answer.
Certainly, the earliest recorded use of it was in James Joyce's Ulysses published in 1922. He, of course, was noted for a love of playing around with words, so maybe the whole thing is just an Irish joke!