Why does the military call the bathroom a head?
And why is a cafeteria called a mess?
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10 Answers
“Head
The “head” aboard a Navy ship is the bathroom. The term comes from the days of sailing ships when the place for the crew to relieve themselves was all the way forward on either side of the bowsprit, the integral part of the hull to which the figurehead was fastened.”
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“Mess” derives from the old French mes, meaning meal. It evolved into meaning a group dinner, then a place for groups of people to eat. A cafeteria is not a mess, but a mess hall.
When sailors of yore went to the “head” of the ship to go, it was because the wind was usually blowing forward.
@ zenvelo I’ve heard the term used to describe the eating area as well, as in officers’ mess.
When I was in the U.S. Army infantry we called it the “latrine”.
MESS = Meal Eat Sitting Station.
@gondwanalon Army people aren’t on ships though, and therefore don’t use naval/shipboard terminology.
But those bullet sponges that actually had what it took to be one of Uncles Sam’s Misguided Children were part of a service that spends a lot of time aboard a boat, whether as internal security and/or for amphibious assaults, so both squids and jarheads call it “head”.
@Yetanotheruser Officers were actually an exception. Us blueshirts had the mess hall, and the E7-E9 had the Chief’s Mess, but the zeroes had the Wardroom. Of the three, the Chief’s Mess had the best food. Well, at least when shipboard; those on shore duty all eat at the Galley, Chief’s Club, or Officer’s Club, depending on paygrade.
Because it’s the jargon of the trade.
Because that is where they give each other head.
@ragingloli Spoken like someone who has never even seen the inside of a ship. Trust me, there are plenty of places with more room and more privacy on board a ship than the shitter.
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