Today's words

garderobe \GAR-drohb\ - 1. a wardrobe or its contents  2. a private room : bedroom  3. privy, toilet

It seems odd to me, at first, that this new word would describe three different types of rooms. But then again, I'm in the middle of reading Bad English, so all of the strange quirks of our language seem more normal now. Some of the etymologically-related words surprised me, too.

donnicker \ˈdä-ni-kər\ - toilet 3a

I suppose around the 1930's someone decided they needed a more socially acceptable term for toilet. This one seems more highfalutin than privy, which I was surprised to see primarily refers to an outhouse. Apparently the synonymous sense of loo didn't develop for nearly another decade.

This post belongs in the water closet.