"spend a penny" -- the TLS is at it again.

[Eric Nielsen]

Just a guess, but perhaps it's another business-referencing euphemism for
doing one's business. I've heard people say, "I've got to see a man about a
horse" when they're going to use the bathroom---but, I think
that means urination is involved. What did Freud say about horses?

Eric

On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 2:31 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "spend a penny" -- the TLS is at it again.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 10/7/2011 12:42 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >Precisely.
> >
> >If it's real and  - and even I have to admit it seems so - and refers to,
> >er, Number Two (as it seems to) I can only hark back to my Freudian ref.
> of
> >last week.
> >
> >Everything you want to know (and, of course, more) is here:
> >
> >http://www.enotes.com/psychoanalysis-encyclopedia/feces
>
> Does this tell me about pennies?  If so, my search engine missed it.
>
> Seriously, are there any hypotheses -- now, since the 1700s antedate
> penny toilets, I assume -- as to the etymology of the expression?
>
> Joel
>
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