Curiosity Corner: What’s the scuttlebutt?

Curiosity Corner

Dr. Jerry D. Wilson, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Lander University

Question: Why is the toilet or bathroom sometimes referred to as the “head?” (Asked by a column reader who wishes to remain anonymous, naturally).

Reply: This is an old one, but the source of this relatively delicate term is rather interesting. It is a nautical, or naval term that goes back to the day of the old sailing ships.

Let’s start at the back of the ship. The upper-most rear deck, where the ship’s wheel was located, was called the poop deck. The ship’s wheel was located in the rear, near the rudder, so as to minimize the pulleys and ropes needed for steering. The poop deck was elevated so the captain or pilot would have a clear view over the front of the ship.

When sailing, the wind generally comes from the rear, so as to fill the sails and propel the ship. During heavy weather, the foam and spray from the tall waves behind the ship would get the poop deck and the pilot quite wet. And after a day of steering in bad weather, the pilot was “pooped.”

At the front of the ship was the figure head, a carved wooden figure or bust fitted on the bow of the ship. The front part of the ship was the best place for sailors to relieve themselves, for the obvious reason that the wind was blowing from the rear toward the front of the ship. So, when the shipmates went to the toilet, they went to the head. I guess a sailor could have said, “I’m going to the bow.”

While on this nautical jargon, let’s do “scuttlebutt.” This was the water barrel on a sailing ship where you went to get a drink. As you might imagine, there was a lot of loitering around the scuttlebutt. So, being in “the know” came to mean that you had all “the scuttlebutt.”

A drinking fountain is still referred to as the scuttlebutt in the Navy, or at least it was years ago when I was in the army and had some Navy personnel stationed at the hospital where I was assigned.

There you have it. Anchors away!

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): “Why is there no window in the lavatory on airplanes? Who on Earth is going to see in?”

Curious about something? Send your questions to Dr. Jerry D. Wilson, College of Science and Mathematics, Lander University, Greenwood, SC 29649, or email jerry@curiosity-corner.net. Selected questions will appear in the Curiosity Corner. For Curiosity Corner background, go to www.curiosity-corner.net.