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00:00What does it mean when someone says they are going to hit the head?
00:04There's no delicate way to put this.
00:06If someone says he is going to hit the head, it means he plans on using the restroom.
00:11The expression comes from Navy and Coast Guard jargon for the bathroom.
00:15Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guard members call their facilities heads,
00:19while land-based military personnel call them latrines.
00:23Naval ships have the word head stenciled on the watertight doors,
00:27leading to the cramped but serviceable facilities.
00:31The origin of this phrase can be traced back to ancient sailing vessels.
00:35Sailors who needed to relieve themselves
00:37would go to a designated area under the deck near the bow or front of the ship.
00:43This area was selected for several reasons.
00:45First of all, the odors would be dissipated into the air
00:48before reaching the main living and work areas.
00:52Secondly, the constant spray of ocean water would act as a natural sanitizer
00:57and keep the area relatively clean.
01:00Since this area was also close to the carved figurehead on the bow,
01:04it became known informally as the head.
01:07The term stuck even as shipbuilders incorporated indoor plumbing
01:11and other modern conveniences into military ships.
01:15Generations of sailors have since adopted the phrase hit the head as a euphemism.
01:21Eventually, the term became part of popular culture
01:24as these men and women assimilated back into society.
01:28The phrase is just one example of military jargon entering popular usage.
01:34There are several other naval terms and expressions
01:36that may sound very familiar to land-bound ears, such as the word wallop.
01:42It is said that King Henry VIII sent Admiral Wallop to France
01:46to avenge the French burning of the city of Brighton.
01:49The resulting damage to the French coast was so severe
01:52that Wallop's name became synonymous with the use of overwhelming force.
01:57Other familiar phrases with a naval origin include hunky dory,
02:01supposedly a corruption of hunky dory,
02:03a Japanese street known for its hospitality towards sailors on leave.
02:08A slang word for office gossip, scuttlebutt, is also said to come from naval history.
02:14Sailors stored their drinking water in stoppered barrels called scuttlebutts,
02:19or simply butts.
02:21Time spent around these water barrels would often involve
02:24retelling rumors or other bits of the ship's news.