What Does "Hitting The Head" Mean?

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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.