gardyloo

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* That it derives from the term "gardyloo" (a corruption of the French phrase gardez l'eau (or maybe: Garde de l'eau!) loosely translated as "watch out for the water!") which was used in medieval times when chamber pots were emptied from a window onto the street.

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Definitions (2)

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  1. Look out for the water: a cry formerly used in Edinburgh, Scotland, to warn passengers to beware of slops about to be thrown out of the window. Atten o'clock at night [in Edinburgh] the whole cargo [of the chamber utensils] is flung out of a back window that looks into some street or lane, and the maid calls Gardyloo to the passengers. Smollett.

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Examples (5)

  • * That it derives from the term "gardyloo" (a corruption of the French phrase gardez l'eau (or maybe: Garde de l'eau!) loosely translated as "watch out for the water!") which was used in medieval times when chamber pots were emptied from a window onto the street. —  Yahoo! Answers: Latest Questions
  • Mrs. Crombie that she had made the gardyloo out of the wrang window, out of respect for twa Highlandmen that were speaking Gaelic in the close below the right ane. —  The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Complete
  • Mrs. Glass, who had been in long and anxious expectation, now rushed, full of eager curiosity and open-mouthed interrogation, upon our heroine, who was positively unable to sustain the overwhelming cataract of her questions, which burst forth with the sublimity of a grand gardyloo: -- —  The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Complete
  • On my first arrival, I was somewhat surprised at my Spanish acquaintances always putting, up their umbrellas when abroad after nightfall in the streets; the city had its evil customs, it seemed, as well as others of more note, with this disadvantage, that no one had the discretion to sing out gardyloo. —  Tom Cringle's Log
  • Edinburgh _gardyloo_. —  The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 25, November, 1859
 

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Etymologies (1)

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  1. Scots; also written gardeloo; usually explained as F. gardez l'eau, or in less incorrect F. gardez-vous de l'eau, but the sense ('protect yourself from the water') does not suit, and the phrase is not found in F. The real origin is F. gare l'eau, used just like gardyloo, literally ‘ware water!’ i. e., look out for the water! also with added adverb gare l'eau la bas! ‘ware water down there!’ In these phrases gare is the imperative of garer, ware, beware, take heed of, shun, avoid, from Middle High German waren, German wahren = English ware, beware: see ware, v., beware, and cf. garret. For F. eau, water, see eau and ewe.
 

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