the.com/cloakroom
a coat's brief vacation while you pretend you're not freezing inside.
means A room where coats, bags, and other belongings are left temporarily, typically near the entrance of a public building, theater, or restaurant.
from A straightforward compound of "cloak" plus "room." "Cloak" came into English via Old French "cloque" (a bell, and by extension a bell-shaped cape), which traces back to Medieval Latin "clocca," meaning bell — the same root behind "clock." So a cloakroom is, quite literally, the room where you hang your bell-shaped garment. In British usage it also became a polite euphemism for a lavatory, the coats-and-conveniences double duty of grand public buildings.
- victorian roots
- named for cloaks, the original drama-queen outerwear
- british slang
- polite Brit code for the toilet
- lost numbers
- that tiny ticket holds your entire evening hostage
- theater staple
- opera houses banned coats from seats early
british parliament cloakroom — westminster's coat room where mps traditionally leave swords before entering the chamber