Loo redux

[nq:1]I recently read Word Origins by Anatoly Liberman which is a work replete with a high level of etymological research. ... "ab-loo-tion," like lava-tory?) is another 'university word.' I was under the impression that the origin of "loo" was uncertain.Any comments?[/nq]
It's hard to see how it could ever be known for certain. But I always suggest it may be French lieu , as there's a univers

Putting in the search box at the AUE Website gives the FAQ entry and its list of twelve theories ("ablutions" not included), as well as links to other articles such as Michael Quinion:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-loo1.htm
Quinion says it has to something quite modern, as it was never recorded

[nq:2]It's hard to see how it could ever be known ... way. Partridge reckoned itwas from French l'eau , though.[/nq]
[nq:1]Putting in the search box at the AUE Website gives the FAQentry and its list of twelve theories ("ablutions" ... If this guy is so erudite, does he give footnotes, citations, references, dates, anything to go on besides the claim?[/nq]
Q is erudite, but I haven't read

[nq:1]surprised Loo uncertain. always of was[/nq]
If Q means Quinion, then sorry, I wasn't clear. I was harking back to retrosorter's mention of "ab-loo-tion" in "Word Origins" by Anatoly Liberman.
[nq:1]Unfortunately, Partridge doesn't back his suggestion with a quotation, either; but he does say it started in the late 19C. ... be remotely surprised to find examples of "ablution" used eup

[nq:1]surprised Loo uncertain. always of was[/nq]
I think Donna was referring to the erudite Liberman. Quinion does give a general bibliography in his corresponding book POSH, but no specific references, except that the Joyce quotation is spelt out:

"O yes, mon loup. How much cost? Waterloo. Water closet."
Paul
In bocca al Lupo!

[nq:1]Thinking again about "ablutions" since that so very definitely refers to washing oneself, and we know the British are ... place where one excretes, why would the room with the "water closet" have been called "the ablutions"? It doesn't fit.[/nq]
British military usage was from the First World War period influenced by hutted camps (built quickly of wood to house an unprecedentedly

[nq:1]I recently read Word Origins by Anatoly Liberman which is a work replete with a high level of etymological research. ... like lava-tory?) is another 'university word.' I was under the impression that the origin of "loo" was uncertain. Any comments?[/nq]
The more vernacular Edinburgh housewives still shout "Gardy Loo" when hurling a bucket of water down the common stairs, or out of the ki

("Followup-To:" header set to alt.usage.english.)
[nq:1]The more vernacular Edinburgh housewives still shout "Gardy Loo" when hurling a bucket of water down the common stairs, or out of the kitchen window, i.e. "Gardez l'eau!".() Scots has a lot more words derived from French than English,[/nq]
Even in vernacular Edinburghensian? Are there other examples of such French-derived ph

There's something not quite convincing about the
loo-derived-from-ablution hypothesis. Would soldiers in the trenches really have broken the syllables as "ab-lu-tion" or rather according to how it's pronounced: "uh-BLOO-sh'n"? If the latter, which is surely far more likely, why don't we now say we are "going to the blue"?

How about "the water closet" having been playfully called "the

[nq:2]The more vernacular Edinburgh housewives still shout "Gardy Loo" when ... has a lot more words derived from French than English,[/nq]
[nq:1]Even in vernacular Edinburghensian? Are there other examples of such French-derived phrases in use in Edinburgh by ordinary folk?[/nq]
I can't think of a phrase off-hand, but I suspect that more a function of my age than the lack, s