Why It Is Called the Head
Posted by Ken on January 20, 1998 at 08:35:38:
In response to Americans are all too often all too blunt..., written by Daničle B. on January 19, 1998 at 23:11:26
] I'm not satisfied... Even in the Royal Navy's ships they had enough sense to close off the "bathrooms" and keep 'em in the stern of the ships so the wind wouldn't blow it all past everyone...
Not entirely. The crew had facilities in the very bow of the ship, in front of the fo'castle, in the sort of cutaway area where the bowsprit comes inboard. This of course is the "head" of the ship, and the nautical name for the restroom has stuck ever since. Heavy seas soon washed the area clean.
Of course, the more usual nautical name in my part of the world is "portapotty", given that Snarkhunter is too small for a permanent facility (-:
YHOS,
Snarkhunter
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