Can anyone tell me why a Toilet is nicknamed a "John"?

I don't know, but here are a couple of guesses, for what they may be worth.

A privy was long called "jakes" in English, which term is thought to derive from the French name Jacques, i.e., "Jacob" or "Jake," or "Jack." But "Jack" is often also taken as a nickname for John. So it is possible that "John" > "john" originated as a kind of arch euphemism for the earlier "jakes."

There is a certain Sir John Harrington connected with the history of the water closet. He is credited with designing the first indoor one for Queen Elizabeth I. But "the john" as a reminiscence of him seems unlikely, since "john" doesn't seem to appear before about 1850.

Number 146 of the 'Laws of Harvard', as published in 1735, reads: "No freshman shall mingo against the College wall or go into the fellows' cuzjohn" ('Mingo' is from Latin 'mingere' = urinate.) Perhaps that wonderful word 'cuzjohn' was simply shortened at some later date? 'John', as such, is virtually never used in this sense in British English

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Originally posted by Ian M: Perhaps that wonderful word 'cuzjohn' was simply shortened at some later date? 'John', as such, is virtually never used in this sense in British English

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The term "john" in bedstor's sense certainly is more common in the U.S. And for Americans, the British words jakes, loo, and so on, are distinctly "literary," believe it or not. So I think the use of john in bedstor's sense probably did originate in America. On the other hand, Ian, bedstor is, after all, British himself (or at least he claims to be), and he seems to be familiar enough with this Americanism (if that's what it is).

As an alternative to a shortening from cuzjohn (wherever that came from), we could also consider the possibility that it was a shortening from the word demijohn:

I'm not entirely serious about this, of course, but this device has on many a camping trip of mine, emptied first, then later refilled at various times through the night, proved of great convenience.

I know that the guy who invented the first flush toilet was named Crapper, hence the term "I'm going to take a Crap". Maybe his first name was John?

No, steve. His first name was Thomas. He was a plumber, and he improved the flush toilet, but he didn't invent it.

Our word "crapper" for toilet does come from his name, though.

There is a quite famous biography of Thomas Crapper (an Englishman) entitled Flushed With Pride.

Slang wise all I can find reference wise Is
jacksie- Noun. Buttocks,
As in :"Get your "Jacksie" off there" is a reference to somebody being too long on the toilet or skiving
As for "John" the English version is quote:

John- Noun. 1. General term of address for a male. [London use.]
2. A client. Prostitute's parlance.
Ps With us (in the Uk) seeing lot of imported TV, we do pick up quite a variety of slang from other countries.Mainly American and Australian



[This message was edited by Koz on 01-23-03 at 04:56 PM.]