john

Meaning

Noun

• A prostitute's client.
• A device or place to urinate and defecate: now usually a toilet or lavatory, but also a chamber pot or outhouse.
• A Western man traveling in East Asia.
• A male mule.

Origin

• From the male given name John (q.v.), whose ubiquity led to extensive use of the name in generic contexts. Its use for toilets derive from John and Cousin John, which both probably relate to jacques and jakes, used in equivalent senses by the British and Irish.