How did the english verb "to go," end up being synonymous with peeing?

[Vassal 1,471]

I tend to find interest in the more nuts and bolts kind of things and have learned a fair amount of languages in my life (unfortunately never really retained them that well outside of my mother tongue, English). Language is fascinated and I enjoy also looking at it from a taxonomic standpoint and love to find traces of the origins of words and grammar. 

"To go," is even more interesting because it's an irregular verb and used extensively in things like the dative and transitive cases (and everything else I've forgotten grammar-wise, I'll spare everyone from that regardless) as well as having a range of meanings, a lot through context, like peeing. 

I imagine it originally came from "going to the bathroom," and just got shortened as we tend to make things easier and more efficient for ourselves, language included. 

Maybe it's just something about the shear simplicity of it but using "go," in the context of peeing really gets me going.

"I need to go really bad."
"You can just go on the carpet."

"I went in my pants."

It might just be so arousing because of the implied context and the simplistic nature of sentences like that. And for some reason adding the nouns "bathroom," or "toilet," makes those sentences even hotter for me.

"I need to go to the bathroom really bad."

"You can just go to the bathroom on the carpet."

"I went to the toilet in my pants."

I also imagine it has something to do with just how "childish" it is, similar to how I'm sure the word "potty" might excite someone.

There's also the taboo nature of it, particularly when combined with the noun "bathroom," or "toilet." There's something just super hot about applying the language of the room itself, or the toilet to peeing in a way that's explicitly not the physical manifestation of those words. 

"I used my pants as a toilet." 

"The corner of my room is my bathroom." 

Hopefully some of this makes sense. Funny how I'm struggling finding ways to express how the language explicitly makes me feel and why it might.

Does anyone else have particular words or phrases that arouse them more than others?

[gldenwetgoose 21,492]

Not only the go to a place....    but also the action too of course:

"I need to go for a wee", "I really need to go for a pee".

Maybe the 'go for' is a little superfluous in those sentences.  After all we could just say 'I really need to pee' but the full sentence implies a little embarrassment, a little element of something done in secret.  I could pee here, but modesty suggests I should only get naked in private to have a pee - unless of course we're going to be really intimate, and I'm going to share the act of peeing with you. 

[Vassal 1,471]

24 minutes ago, gldenwetgoose said:

Not only the go to a place....    but also the action too of course:

"I need to go for a wee", "I really need to go for a pee".

Maybe the 'go for' is a little superfluous in those sentences.  After all we could just say 'I really need to pee' but the full sentence implies a little embarrassment, a little element of something done in secret.  I could pee here, but modesty suggests I should only get naked in private to have a pee - unless of course we're going to be really intimate, and I'm going to share the act of peeing with you. 

I think you're right. It kind of goes into what really makes this fetish so hot, a private act being done out in the open, explicitly where it's not supposed to be done. The literal definition of taboo. 

[thisguy20 937]

Largely on board with your thinking Vassel.  Although, I suspect the phrase originated in "go to the outhouse" which, as a separate building than one's home or place of business, would have entailed going outside and walking some distance. 

[Bacardi 10,134]

My best guess is that pee probably became a dirty word sometime in our culture. That's how we got verbiage like "tinkle" and "water." I remember back in middle school a classmate of mine got in trouble for announcing to the class that she had to pee, and my teacher said "don't say that! Just tell me you have to go!" 

[DoctorDoctor 1,391]

Does anyone know if the verb "go" is used in other languages for the same purpose?  (Meaning to pee).

[Vassal 1,471]

1 hour ago, Bacardi said:

My best guess is that pee probably became a dirty word sometime in our culture. That's how we got verbiage like "tinkle" and "water." I remember back in middle school a classmate of mine got in trouble for announcing to the class that she had to pee, and my teacher said "don't say that! Just tell me you have to go!" 

Oh right, sometimes forget how prudish people can be, especially with bathroom activities. It's a little different for those of us who do things like whip it out and piss on the floor or wet their pants. 

 

1 hour ago, DoctorDoctor said:

Does anyone know if the verb "go" is used in other languages for the same purpose?  (Meaning to pee).

It's used in the same way as in English in German at least. I'm forgetting all the right terms and case. Like "I went to pee," in German is "Ich pinkle gehen," which is the exact same in English except the verbs are positioned different due to the grammar rules of German. I want to say its the same in the Romance languages, but those have been a while. 

Whether or not Germans are using it as slang is another question. It'd be interesting since in English you conjugate "to go," while in German it stays as the infinite as "gehen" at the end of the sentence while "pinkeln," "to pee," gets conjugated. 

Though a native speaker please correct me if I'm wrong. It's been ages.

[wannawatchuwiggle 131]

Interesting question.. Thanks for sharing, folks! 

As for using "(to) go" - not in my language (dutch) where "to do" is used in most cases concerning 'having to pee'. And if memory serves me correct, neither in the German language. 

 

[Dr.P 1,473]

I grew up in the Chicago metropolitan area of the U.S., in the 1940's and 1950's, and am of German and Polish ancestry, which was very common, at that time. Like Vassal, and the rest of you, I have always been fascinated with the words people, especially women, use for urination. "Wee-wee" was my mother's preferred word for pee, used as a noun and a verb; she also used "go" as a verb, and "going" as an adverb. So those were the terms I learned, as a small child, between 2 1/2 and 4 years old. When she had to pee, she always left the bathroom door open, when we were home alone, and she might even say, "I have to go," or "I have to wee-wee," inviting me to come along, when she went, if I hadn't followed her. I was very interested in, and intensely curious about how women peed, so I started following her into the bathroom, when she invited me. I guess it should not be surprising that hearing a woman say she has to "wee-wee" or even "go" still excites me, with anticipation, to this day! 

When I got to elementary school, I heard kids, especially others of German descent, say "I have to make," meaning pee, which was puzzling to me, at the time. Much later, in my adult life, I learned that this was probably a literal translation of the German verb, "machen," which I have seen in porn pictures, "Ich habe mir in die hose gemacht." ("I have peed in my panties.") So this may reflect German-American usage.  My mother frowned on the word "piss," which was considered very vulgar, almost a curse word, especially when uttered by women, in that place and time. "Pee" was a somewhat acceptable substitute. The trend toward euphemisms is obvious. I think it culminated with "I have to go to the little girls' room," in the last decade, or two. 

Western languages are not the only ones which employ such euphemisms for peeing. In Mandarin Chinese, "shiao bien," which literally means "small convenience," means pee, as in "Waw yao shiao  bien," (I want to pee.) This is widely used in public, by men and women, with no apparent erotic significance, or embarrassment.  A very polite form, used with strangers, is "Waw shahng mafung," I'm seeking a toilet," which does not specify the bodily function. 

The erotic significance of these words, especially when used by women, has always fascinated me. The braver ones, like one of the girls I grew up with, would say "I have to piss so bad!" or "I pissed all over myself!" Hearing a girl or woman say something like that was always an instant turn-on, for me, while a euphemism like "going to the little girls' room," or "going to the restroom," does nothing.  On the other hand, how it is said can make all of the difference, in the world. A gf of mine, with whom I had a very delightful, "wet"  relationship, for several years, would lock eyes with me and say, "I have to Go!" as an invitation for me to come with her and watch her.       Dr.P

Edited December 27, 2021 by Dr.P
To italicize foreign words and phrases, for clarity.

[Paulypeeps 5,287]

In my experience just using "To go" is a shortened version of "To go to the toilet". In many places the word Toilet is a bit taboo in most contexts, so everyone just understands what is implied when "the toilet" is just left out of the sentence - if it was anywhere else you were going you would have said it. Most young people used to have limited vocabulary that did not include the word "urinate" so not using that word and working around it continued in to adult life.

What always tickles us English is when someone from abroad just replaces the word "Toilet" with something else less taboo such as "Bathroom". In England it is still very common for the bathroom to be a room without a toilet in it in houses built up until about 1980 when new houses became a lot smaller, so if  someone asked me where the bathroom was in my house I would tell them, but they would most likely be disappointed to find a room containing a bath, a shower and a hand basin, but no toilet, the toilet is in a separate room next door on its own.

[likesToLick 10,216]

On 12/27/2021 at 12:51 PM, Dr.P said:

Western languages are not the only ones which employ such euphemisms for peeing. In Mandarin Chinese, "shiao bien," which literally means "small convenience," means pee, as in "Waw yao shiao  bien," (I want to pee.)

Thai language also has euphemisms.

Women say "det dorkmaai"  which means "pick flowers",  and men say "ying gradtaai" which means "shoot rabbits."  I'm guessing these terms first came into use in rural villages,  where these would have been acceptable excuses for disappearing into the bushes for a few minutes.

[Peewee123 1,124]

On 12/27/2021 at 11:26 AM, Paulypeeps said:

What always tickles us English is when someone from abroad just replaces the word "Toilet" with something else less taboo such as "Bathroom"

I’m English and I say bathroom regularly to mean toilet. I understand that people mean toilet but they are trying to be a little more subtle/polite. I am not sure I have ever seen a house with a separate toilet to the bathroom, but most houses have a downstairs toilet as well which obviously isn’t a “bathroom” but I would show people to my downstairs toilet whatever word they used. 

[likesToLick 10,216]

3 hours ago, Peewee123 said:

I understand that people mean toilet but they are trying to be a little more subtle/polite. 

Which is funny because "toilet" is itself a euphemism.

• Toilet: The process of washing oneself, dressing, and attending to one's appearance.
  ‘her toilet completed, she finally went back downstairs’

[Kupar 13,340]

7 hours ago, Peewee123 said:

I am not sure I have ever seen a house with a separate toilet to the bathroom

They are more common in continental Europe.

[hentaixt 1,581]

I'm pretty sure this has been covered in some capacity in the previous posts of this thread, but the nature of needing to leave to re-leave, would also lead credence to the "to go" aspect. Since the act would be considered "improper" to be done in the company of others, 1'd need to "excuse themselves" to complete the action. Meaning that by default you'd have "to go" at least elsewhere.

[Vassal 1,471]

8 hours ago, likesToLick said:

Which is funny because "toilet" is itself a euphemism.

• Toilet: The process of washing oneself, dressing, and attending to one's appearance.
  ‘her toilet completed, she finally went back downstairs’

Always loved when it's used in the "correct" way.

"D’Artagnan began by making his most splendid toilet."

It's just so, not sure of the right word to use, classical.

[Vassal 1,471]

Just now, Vassal said:

Always loved when it's used in the "correct" way.

"D’Artagnan began by making his most splendid toilet."

It's just so, not sure of the right word to use, classical.

Although the example I'd like to use but don't really want to look up is one of the ladies from The Three Musketeers. I've always read older literature and Classics so I'm familiar with the archaic usage of toilet, but it was still a bit surprising to read something along the lines of Kitty or Milady going into their make-up closet to "do their toilet." Which really just means get ready for the day but you know where minds wander, and given the usage of chamber pots back in the day I bet she really would be peeing in there any way.

[likesToLick 10,216]

On 12/29/2021 at 9:48 AM, Peewee123 said:

I am not sure I have ever seen a house with a separate toilet to the bathroom,

Fairly standard in Australia.   I haven't had a toilet in my bathroom since 40 years ago when I lived in a rented flat.

Posher houses have a basin in the toilet room for hand washing, but most don't.

Traditional homes built in the 1970s or earlier have the toilet in its own room,  near the back door and usually entered via the laundry.  People normally use the laundry sink for hand washing.

[Peewee123 1,124]

21 hours ago, likesToLick said:

Traditional homes built in the 1970s or earlier have the toilet in its own room,  near the back door and usually entered via the laundry.  People normally use the laundry sink for hand washing.

That doesn’t seem too hygienic, a basin in the same room makes sense 

[Carb0nBased 647]

On 12/27/2021 at 9:20 PM, likesToLick said:

Thai language also has euphemisms.

Women say "det dorkmaai"  which means "pick flowers",  and men say "ying gradtaai" which means "shoot rabbits."  I'm guessing these terms first came into use in rural villages,  where these would have been acceptable excuses for disappearing into the bushes for a few minutes.

Those are interesting!

[Alfresco 11,632]

On 12/30/2021 at 1:59 AM, likesToLick said:

Fairly standard in Australia.   I haven't had a toilet in my bathroom since 40 years ago when I lived in a rented flat.

Posher houses have a basin in the toilet room for hand washing, but most don't.

Traditional homes built in the 1970s or earlier have the toilet in its own room,  near the back door and usually entered via the laundry.  People normally use the laundry sink for hand washing.

We have a shower room that has a toilet in it and we have a bathroom that doesn't have a toilet.

If someone asks for the bathroom in my house then I'd be inclined to direct them to the bathroom (that doesn't have a toilet).  Would be interested to see whether they then come back and ask for the toilet, or whether they use the bath as a toilet or what!

[Alfresco 11,632]

On 12/28/2021 at 5:20 AM, likesToLick said:

Thai language also has euphemisms.

Women say "det dorkmaai"  which means "pick flowers",  and men say "ying gradtaai" which means "shoot rabbits."  I'm guessing these terms first came into use in rural villages,  where these would have been acceptable excuses for disappearing into the bushes for a few minutes.

I have only heard this use once ever, but it remains in my memory very clearly.  It was when we went on a walk from school - probably aged about 16.   One of the male teachers said he was going to pick a flower, but he went behind a wall and clearly was having a pee.