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What is the difference between loo and toilet?

loo | toilet |

Toilet is a synonym of loo.



As nouns the difference between loo and toilet

is that loo is a toilet while toilet is personal grooming; washing, dressing etc.

As verbs the difference between loo and toilet

is that loo is to beat in the game of loo by winning every trick while toilet is to dress and groom oneself.

loo

English

Etymology 1

Uncertain; possible origins include: * French lieux'', short for ''lieux d'aisances ‘toilets’, literally ‘places of convenience’. * A particular brand of early toilet cisterns, trademarked 'Waterloo'. A common folk etymology is that the word comes from the exclamation gardyloo'', from French ''garde à l'eau ‘mind the water!’, used when emptying dirty water or slops out of a window onto the public sidewalk or street.

Noun

(en noun)
  • (colloquial, Australia, NZ, UK) A toilet.
  • * 2006 , Garth Thompson, Dov Fedler, The Guide?s Guide to Guiding , 3rd Edition, Jacana Media, South Africa, page 160,
  • Ensure that the tents are well-sited and clean, rubbish bins empty and that the loos have toilet paper.
  • * 2009 , Katharina Kane, The Gambia and Senegal , Lonely Planet, page 275,
  • The lack of running water in rural areas often makes Western-style loos hygienic disasters. Suddenly the noncontact squat toilet doesn?t look like such a bad option any more (as long as you roll up your trouser legs).
  • * 2010 , Meegan Jones, Sustainable Event Management: A Practical Guide , Earthscan, page 206,
  • Waterless urinals are a great way of keeping the guys out of the cubicle toilets, keeping the urine separated from the solid waste (when using composting loos') and reducing water consumption if you have flush ' loos .
    References

    Etymology 2

    Shortened form of lanterloo.

    Noun

    (-)
  • The card game lanterloo.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To beat in the game of loo by winning every trick.
  • (Goldsmith)

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (-)
  • A hot, dusty wind in Bihar and the Punjab.
  • * 1888 , Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Man Who Would be King’, The Phantom ’Rickshaw and Other Tales , Folio Society 2005, p. 135:
  • It was a pitchy black night, as stifling as a June night can be, and the loo , the red-hot wind from the westward, was booming among the tinder-dry trees and pretending that the rain was on its heels.
    English terms with unknown etymologies ----

    toilet

    English

    (wikipedia toilet)

    Alternative forms

    * toilette

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (label) Personal grooming; washing, dressing etc.
  • * 1931 , William Faulkner, Sanctuary , Vintage 1993, page 111:
  • Three women got down and standing on the curb they made unabashed toilets , smoothing skirts and stockings, brushing one another's back, opening parcels and donning various finery.
  • *
  • "It is so painful in you, Celia, that you will look at human beings as if they were merely animals with a toilet , and never see the great soul in a man's face."
  • * 1917 , Arthur Conan Doyle, :
  • "It is a quarter-past two," he said. "Your telegram was dispatched about one. But no one can glance at your toilet and attire without seeing that your disturbance dates from the moment of your waking."
  • (label) A dressing room.
  • Now specifically, a room or enclosed cubicle containing a lavatory, e.g. a bathroom or water closet (WC).
  • *
  • there were also tons of garbage festering in the sun, and the greasy laundry of the workers hung out to dry, and dining rooms littered with food and black with flies, and toilet rooms that were open sewers.
  • * 2002 , Digby Tantam, Psychotherapy and Counselling in Practice: A Narrative Framework (page 122)
  • He would hit her when she cried and, if this did not work, would lock her in the toilet for hours on end.
  • A lavatory or device for depositing human waste and then flushing it away with water.
  • EPA is currently developing the specification for high-efficiency toilets . All HETs that meet WaterSense criteria for efficiency and performance will be eligible to receive a label once EPA finalizes the specification. US Environmental Protection Agency.
  • Other similar devices, such as squat toilets, as in Japan or the Middle East.
  • (label) A shabby or dirty place, especially a lounge/bar/pub/tavern.
  • * 1982 , (The Mosquito Coast) :
  • Look around you. It's a toilet .
  • (label) A covering of linen, silk, or tapestry, spread over a table in a chamber or dressing room.
  • (label) A dressing table.
  • * 1904 , Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock , Canto I, lines 121-126:
  • And now, unveil’d, the toilet stands display’d,
    Each silver vase in mystic order laid.
    First, robed in white, the nymph intent adores,
    With head uncover’d, the cosmetic powers.
    A heav’nly image in the glass appears;
    To that she bends, to that her eyes she rears.

    Usage notes

    Before the 20th century, toilet' universally referred to personal grooming, bathing, and washing, to combing or arranging one's hair, shaving, etc. This sense is preserved today in '''toiletry''' 'personal grooming item' and ' toilet bag . Nowadays, it is mostly used to indicate a toilet seat or a room with such a seat. Terms such as "pulmonary toilet" and "toilet of the mouth" are however still used in hospitals and clinics.

    Derived terms

    {{der3, toilet bag , toilet basket , toilet box , toilet brush , toilet paper, TP , toilet powder , toilet roll , toilet seat , toilet service, toilet set , toilet train, toilet trained, toilet training , toilet table , toilet tent , toilet water , toiletry, toiletries}}

    Descendants

    * Estonian: (l) * Japanese:

    Synonyms

    * bathroom * bog * can * cloakroom * commode * crapper * dunny (Australian slang) * facilities * head * jacks (Hiberno-English) * john (US) * khazi * latrine * lav * lavatory * loo (British English) * outhouse * pisser * pot * potty * powder room * privy * restroom * shit house * shitter * stool * throne * thunderbox * WC

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (label) To dress and groom oneself
  • To use the toilet, or assist (a child, etc.) in using the toilet
  • Anagrams

    * * ----