Comment on Why did they only want the poopdeck swabbed and not the whole deck?
tyler@programming.dev 1 week agoThey literally did poop on the head. c8.alamy.com/…/figure-head-from-sailing-ship-in-t…
The toilet was at the front, a hole in the deck, leading down onto the figurehead. They literally relieved themselves on top of a statue. That is the origin of the term!!!
GreenBeard@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Generally the hole(s) where you relieved yourself were off to the side a bit as the bowsprit was directly over the figurehead, but you are correct that you were effectively sitting directly above it. The head was up there because breaking waves would wash the skidmarks off the hull.