Why are toilets sometimes called "The Head"?

Question

I notice it more as a military expression but for the life of me can't figure out how it came to be.

Answer 1

it's only an expression used in the navy

Answer 2

Why Is A Ship Toilet Called The Head

The reason that a ship's lavatory is called a head is because in olden days when a member of a sailing crew needed to relieve themselves they would go to the front of the boat or ship.

The nautical name for the front of the ship is the bow.

At the bow was traditionally placed a figurehead which would bring luck to the crew. A common figurehead was beautiful women. It is thought that the term head or heads came from this.

The Captain of the ship would be above such common practice and had his own private toilet beside his cabin.

This was usually below the p**p deck which was the name for the raised section at the stern of old ships.

Answer 3

To be honest I've wondered the same thing before...and the only conclusion I can come up with is that the certainly couldn't call it "The Tip"...(like of the p***s)

But I really don't know if that's right, sorry

Answer 4

It's the naval equivalent of a latrine.

For a good laugh, look up names for the place in a dictionary of obscene and colloquial English; there are hundreds of variants, almost as many as there are for less respectable parts of the body.