Or a John as a prostitute's client. As in, "Dear John: If you were the John
in the john with that prostitute last night our love is in the toilet,
whereas it used to be in the can, a dun deal. Use your head next time in
loo of peter."
Mark
At 01:08 PM 6/8/2005, you wrote:
> >
> > Does google say who "john" was?
>
>Makes me want to ask, what is the origin of the 'Dear John' letter - as a
>pseudo-polite generic way to end a relationship that's gone south on all
>levels! ("How is your relationship, John?" "It's in the toilet now.")
>
>Oh well,
>
>Stephen V
>
>
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > At 12:01 PM 6/8/2005, you wrote:
> >> No sooner asked...Thank Google (which should be replacing that other big G
> >> round about now):
> >>> One of the most vilified pieces of equipment aboard our boats is the
> >> toilet—or as most sailors like to refer to it, the head. The old salts
> >> among us tend to cling to this bit of archaic nautical jargon to remind
> >> ourselves of the days when the only toilet facilities aboard sailing
> >> ships was to saunter up forward to the bow, or head of the ship, and let
> >> your backside hang over the bulwarks to do your business.<
> >> mj
> >>
> >> Mark Weiss wrote:
> >>
> >>> Both bog and can refer back to pre-indoor plumbing--with the overtone of
> >>> "bog people" in the one case and permission in the other. "Head" is too
> >>> awful to talk about--would be nice to know the origin of that one.
> >>>
> >>> There's also "privy," presumably from "private."
> >>>
> >>> Mark
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> At 10:37 AM 6/8/2005, you wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> A well brought-up British yob in my day, (cough, expectorate) would say
> >>>> "bog".
> >>>> mj
> >>>>
> >>>> Halvard Johnson wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> On Jun 8, 2005, at 10:13 AM, Mark Weiss wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> Lavatory is accurate if you wash your hands in it. Crapper makes the
> >>>>>> recipient the active party. Loo sounds like it's instead of something.
> >>>>>> WC (watercloset) is just silly, tho the idea of a set of shelves for
> >>>>>> water is kind of neat--like a wine cellar? Harrington is too long--by
> >>>>>> the time you've asked where it is it might be too late.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Leaving us with, among others, "head" and "can"--short and . . . well,
> >>>>> sweet?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Hal
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Halvard Johnson
> >>>>> [log in to unmask]
> >>>>> [log in to unmask]
> >>>>> website: http://home.earthlink.net/~halvard
> >>>>> blog: http://entropyandme.blogspot.com/
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> M.J.Walker - no webpage, no blogspot, no idea -
> >>>>
> >>>> nobody dies, 'nothing happens', we call it music,
> >>>> it is time rushing past the shabby portals of our ear
> >>>>
> >>>> and I am just a terrible mistake.
> >>>> Robert Kelly
> >>>
> >>
> >> --
> >> M.J.Walker - no webpage, no blogspot, no idea -
> >>
> >> nobody dies, 'nothing happens', we call it music,
> >> it is time rushing past the shabby portals of our ear
> >>
> >> and I am just a terrible mistake.
> >> Robert Kelly
|