Why do they call it the loo? (kottke.org)

Feb.16, 2005 in General, Literature, Writing

Interesting read over at kottke.org: Why do they call it the loo? (kottke.org). FYI, according to the O.E.D., it is traced inconclusively back to the Waterloo mention by Joyce in Ulysses:

A. S. C. Ross’s examination of possible sources in Blackw. Mag. (1974) Oct. 309-16 is inconclusive: he favours derivation, in some manner that cannot be demonstrated, from Waterloo.

After Joyce’s use of Waterloo in 1922, the first mention to use exclusively the form “loo” and directly attributed to the toilet is in Pigeon Pie in 1940. Also, this usage of loo is the 4th and last noun usage listed in the O.E.D. The first refers to the card game, the second to a velvet mask popular in the 17th Century, and the 3rd to a hot dust-laden wind.

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