词汇 | loo |
词源 | loo. Loo, a slang word for “toilet” and British in origin, may be a mispronunciation of le lieu, French for “the place.” But no one is sure. It could also be a shortening of gardy loo! a warning cry housewives made when they emptied chamber pails out the windows into the street, gardy loo being a corruption of the French gardez l’eau, “watch out for the water.” A man tradition- ally walks on the outside of a woman in the street because chamber pots were emptied out the window in Elizabethan times; in those days a man was expected to take the greater risk of walking near the curb and protecting his lady by shielding her with his body as well. Among men walking together with- out women brutal fights were fought over who would “take the wall.” See john; twiss. |
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