"Loo" is the most common, widely used British nickname for the toilet, considered both casual and polite. Other, more colloquial or vulgar terms include "the bog," "the bogger," "the khazi," or "the netty" (particularly in North East England).
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.
Brits call it the "loo" due to several theories, most popularly from the French warning "gardez l'eau" ("watch out for the water") shouted when emptying chamber pots, which became "gardyloo" and then "loo," or from the French "lieu" (place) or "lieux d'aisances" (place of ease); another theory suggests it's from the trade name "Waterloo" on early cisterns, though its exact origin remains a bit obscure.
Bog. The slang word bog first appeared in the late eighteenth century, originally as “boghouse.” It most likely evolved from earlier British slang linked to defecation. Although informal, bog remains one of the most commonly used casual alternatives to toilets in the UK.
Common Cockney slang for toilet includes "khazi" (or "carsey," "karzy," "kharsie"), derived from Italian "casa" (house), and rhyming slang like "Ronson Lighter" for "shiter" (toilet), or simply "bog," while "cottage" means a public toilet. Other terms like "loo" or "spend a penny" are also used in British slang.
Fancy words for toilet include lavatory, water closet (WC), convenience, restroom, and powder room, while more formal or archaic terms are privy, latrine, or commode, with regional favorites like loo (UK) or comfort room (Philippines).
If there is only a toilet🚽, they usually call this room a TOILET. In informal speech, they also sometimes call it a LOO. If a room with a toilet/toilets🚽 is in a public area like a mall or restaurant, Brits still typically call it a TOILET, but Americans usually call it a RESTROOM.
A chamber pot might be disguised in a sort of chair (a close stool). It might be stored in a cabinet with doors to hide it; this sort of nightstand was known as a commode, hence the latter word came to mean "toilet" as well. For homes without these items of furniture, the chamber pot was stored under the bed.
In British English, "toilet" is the most common term, also used are "WC", an abbreviation for water closet, "lavatory", or "loo". Other terms are also used, some as part of a regional dialect.
Vocabulary is as important as accent. Since the writer Nancy Mitford codified the U and non-U (upper class and non-upper class) terms in the 1950s, it has been taken as fact that upper classes use loos, sofas and napkins while their social inferiors prefer toilets, settees and serviettes.
Despite its British popularity for a slightly less crude way to call the toilet, the word “loo” is actually derived from the French phrase 'guardez l'eau', meaning 'watch out for the water”.
Common Cockney slang for toilet includes "khazi" (or "carsey," "karzy," "kharsie"), derived from Italian "casa" (house), and rhyming slang like "Ronson Lighter" for "shiter" (toilet), or simply "bog," while "cottage" means a public toilet. Other terms like "loo" or "spend a penny" are also used in British slang.
Brits call it the "loo" due to several theories, most popularly from the French warning "gardez l'eau" ("watch out for the water") shouted when emptying chamber pots, which became "gardyloo" and then "loo," or from the French "lieu" (place) or "lieux d'aisances" (place of ease); another theory suggests it's from the trade name "Waterloo" on early cisterns, though its exact origin remains a bit obscure.
The British Royal Family avoids the word "toilet," preferring "loo" or "lavatory," often due to the word's French origins, with "lavatory" being more formal and "loo" common in general conversation, while older terms like "close stool" were used historically for portable commodes. They also use other refined terms like "scent" for perfume and "helping" for food portions, avoiding more common, "working-class" words.
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.
Loo or dunny - Thesea are slang term for toilet. If you are a guest in someone's house for the first time, it is usually polite to ask permission to use his or her toilet. 'May I use your toilet please?' Some people ask, 'Where's the loo?'
A swirly or swirlie is a form of bullying in which the victim's head is put into a toilet. Some people have questioned whether swirlies are real or whether they were invented for television and other fiction.
Head (ship's toilet) The use of the term "head" to refer to a ship's toilet dates to at least as early as 1708, when Woodes Rogers (English privateer and Governor of the Bahamas) used the word in his book, A Cruising Voyage Around the World.
"Skibidi Toilet" slang comes from a viral YouTube series featuring singing heads in toilets, and it's a nonsensical term used by Gen Alpha to mean anything from "cool" to "bad," express confusion ("What in the skibidi?"), or describe something absurd or weird, often with no specific meaning other than it's a catchy, nonsensical phrase from the meme. It functions as a versatile, context-dependent word that can describe a person, situation, or just be random gibberish.
