gardy loo
Preserved but no longer current.
The cry of warning formerly given by Edinburgh housewives when about to throw the contents of the slop-pail out of the window into the street below. It is a corruption of Fr. garde Veau, beware of the water.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “gardy loo” mean?
The cry of warning formerly given by Edinburgh housewives when about to throw the contents of the slop-pail out of the window into the street below. It is a corruption of Fr. garde Veau, beware of the water.
Is “gardy loo” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.