The name Cloak Lane, EC4, London may sound as if this lane was originally a nice romantic street where gentlemen might spread their cloaks for elegant ladies, but in true fact Cloak Lane was a very messy lane, and the Cloak was not a cloak at all, but derived from a Latin word for a place where messy things flush out. What Latin word ?

lanfranco

Cloaca, for sewer or drain. May 03 05, 2:00 PM

gmackematix

Actually, the word "cloaca" is quite well known thanks to the Cloaca Maxima in Rome. Less well known is the fact that the plumbing obsessed Romans even had a goddess of sewers called Cloacina. Cloaca is also the single orifice through which birds and reptiles can emit both urine and faeces. Incidentally, the word "cloak" is unrelated, coming ultimately from the Latin "clocca" meaning bell, as does the word "clock". May 03 05, 4:36 PM

lanfranco

There is, in fact, a verse regarding Cloacina in Robert Graves' "I, Claudius." "Soft and cohesive let my offerings flow, Neither roughly swift, nor impudently slow..." May 03 05, 6:33 PM

Flem-ish

YAY for lanfranco. May 03 05, 11:49 PM