po, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

po n.

also poe, poh

[abbr. SE chamberpot + ‘affected’ abbr. of Fr. pot de chambre]

1. a chamberpot; a commode.

1831		Satirist (London) 31 July 132/1: Horace Twiss, on Chamber Po-litics, is received.
1839		Crim.-Con. Gaz. 18 May 157/1: Massa ob de Rolls, Massa Bakers (created Lord Foozle), Attorney General Horace Twiss, Esquire (created Lord Po).
1870		Cythera’s Hymnal 38: Three jugs to each wash-hand-stand / And nine and twenty pos.
1879		Bathhust Sentinel (Aus.) in N. Keesing (1982) 139: ‘Fain would I p.’ cried the child in wo / ‘O fetch for me, mother, the rounded po’.
1889		Dead Bird (Sydney) 9 Nov. 1/4: The photographer [...] wanted to know whether she would have a plain photo or one taken in fancy style and asked her, ‘Madame, will you have your photo taken in ordinary style or en pose?’ The young lady bounced out of the gallery very much shocked.
a.1890		‘The Labouring Woman’ in Henderson Victorian Street Ballads (1937) 86: Then I have to clean the windows / And empty the chamber po.
1924		(con. WWI) A.G. Pretty Gloss. Sl. [...] in the A.I.F. 1921–1924 (rev. t/s) n.p.: po juggler. A batman; an officers’ servant.
1942		G. Kersh Nine Lives Bill Nelson 111: A little baby’s po [...] with a picture of Mickey Mouse on it.
1959		I. & P. Opie Lore and Lang. of Schoolchildren (1977) 39: Hasten, hasten, / Fetch the basin, / No, no, / Fetch the po.
1960		(con. c.1918) D. Holman-Hunt My Grandmothers and I (1987) 14: ‘Grand calls a po an “article”.’ [...] ‘Well, I call it a chamber and that’s that.’.
1968		G. Slatter Pagan Game (1969) 164: Crook in the guts – / Full as a family poe.
1976		H. Leonard Time Was (1981) Act I: He’d call a po a functional ceramic.
1980		Barltrop & Wolveridge Muvver Tongue 42: In front of women and children it was called the po, the jerry or the chamber.
1992		T. Pratchett Lords and Ladies 73: ‘Shove the po under it, will you Gytha,’ she mumbled.
1996		D. Healy Bend for Home 22: She was carrying a po of piss swathed in Christmas wrapping paper. [Ibid.] 247: The wooden top of the po bangs shut.

2. constr. with The the right-wing Morning Post newspaper.

1832

Satirist (London) 9 Dec. 397/4: The ‘Slopbasin’ mentions an extraordinary calf [...] which, after death, was found to have a needle and thread in its stomach! The poor Po is sadly imposed upon sometimes.

3. the lavatory.

1927		in Robert Graves Lars Porsena: The Future of Swearing 42: Pa’s out and Ma’s out, let’s talk dirt! / Pee-poh-belly-bottom-drawers.
1975		E. Brady All in! All in! 31: A pin to see the show! [...] The lady on the po.
1979		‘Ma’s Out’ in Bold (1979) 137: Ma’s out, Pa’s out, / Let’s talk dirt: / Pee, po, belly, bottom, / Bum, fart, drawers.
1982		(con. 1930s–50s) E. Mac Thomáis Janey Mack, Me Shirt is Black 19: Teddy bear teddy bear / Tip your toe. We always chanted back, Teddy bear teddy bear / on the poe. We threw down the rope and ran away, leaving the girls shocked that we uttered such a word as poe.
2000		Indep. Rev. 20 Apr. 16: Let’s talk rude / Pee po belly bum drawers.

In phrases

after you with the po, Jane

a ref. to the need to take turns in using an outdoor privy; transferred in joc. usage to indoor facilities.

1984

Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 7/2: ca. 1880–1925.