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Subermarine Toilets

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BagPussAA | 08:29 Fri 27th Oct 2006 | How it Works
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Does anyone know why a toilet on a subermarine is called the 'Head' in the US?
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Not just submarines, but vessels in general. The term was used in the UK around the 1700s, but is now generally regarded as an American expression.
The front of a vessel is called the head, and that's where sailors used to hang over the side to do their business - that way the bow-wave would wash the side of the hull and keep it clean.
No more tuna for me, thanks!
Some claim it is an abbreviation of �cathead', the beam that protrudes for a few feet at each side of the bow and which the anchor used to be hauled up to. (Personally, I find it hard to imagine some poor Jack Tar squatting on an exposed, projecting beam in a force 9 gale!)
Whichever, the latrine was "at the front"...ie head...of the vessel, as Heathfield says above.
To add... the euphemisim has, over the years, spread to all branches of the armed forces here in the U.S. and, with the numbers of ex-servicemen in the general population, the term is well understood by almost everyone...
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I saw it on the film 'Operation Petticoat' when it was on the other day and it just got me wondering.. Thanks guys.. Now I know
The term heads was always used over the 22 years I was in the Marines in the UK, I never thought it was an American word. It applies to all UK Naval vessels.

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