gardyloo means A cry used to warn passersby that a vessel of wastewater is about to be emptied into the street. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
gardyloo is pronounced /ɡɑːdɪˈluː/.
Why “gardyloo” is a great word
GARDYLOO — [Interjection] A historical warning cry in Edinburgh that household slops were about to be flung from an upper window into the street. From French (prenez) garde à l'eau ("take heed of the water"), first attested in 1662 in the burgh records of Edinburgh. Unlike "fore" (a clean, sporting alert) or "heads-up" (a casual, all-purpose advisory), "gardyloo" is a specific, grim courtesy born of urban necessity. It is the sharp cry fracturing the morning quiet, the sudden shadow of waste arcing through the air, and the frantic scuttle for a doorway’s meager shelter—a raw, acoustic contract between the private act of disposal and the public right to not be soiled by it.
intj
- A cry used to warn passersby that a vessel of wastewater is about to be emptied into the street.“[A]ll the chairs in the family are emptied into this here barrel once a-day; and at ten o'clock at night the whole cargo is flung out of a back windore that looks into some street or lane, and the maid calls Gardy loo to the passengers, which signifies, Lord have mercy upon you! and this is done every night in every house at Haddingborough; so you may guess, Mary Jones, what a sweet savour comes f”
noun
- A cry of “gardyloo”.“What do the polished inhabitants of Carrubber's close care for all the taunts that can be uttered by the mouths of all the tobacco-chewing, bacon-eating bagmen who chatter no intelligible language of any country, about "gardy loos," and Caledonian cremonas?”
- An act of discarding waste or some other substance from a height. Also attributive and figurative.“I believe the auld women wad hae greed, for Lucky Mac-Phail sent down the lass to tell my friend Mrs Crombie that she had made the gardyloo out of the wrang window, out of respect for twa Highlandmen that were speaking Gaelic in the close below the right ane. […]
Mrs Glass, who had been in long and anxious expectation, now rushed, full of eager curiosity and open-mouthed interrogation, upon our he”
- Caution, warning.“Released but a few weeks before Gremlins, this film drew only foreshadowings of concern that spiraled up into hysterical gardyloos when Gremlins made its debut.”