DCHP-2

honey bucket honey-bucket DCHP-2 (November 2016)

• n. — Slang, rural, Territories

  a container used in place of a toilet.

  Type: 5. Frequency — The term honey bucket is a euphemism for a type of improvised toilet (see the 1964 quotation). It generally consists of a bucket or a pail (see the 1959 quotation) lined with a plastic bag (see honey bag). Honey buckets are used in places with no or poor plumbing systems, especially where plumbing freezes in the winter and the extreme cold makes the use of outhouses difficult. As seen in Chart 1, the term is most frequently used in Canada, and in particular, its colder regions (see Chart 2). The word possibly derives from use in the Canadian military, as it is defined and marked as a "Canadian" term in the glossary section of a book recounting slang and songs from British soldiers throughout World War I (Brophy & Partridge 1931: 318, DS-5 s.v. "honey-bucket").
  See also Gage-3, s.v. "honey bucket", which is marked "Cdn. Slang." and OED-3, s.v. "honey bucket" (2), which is marked "N. Amer. Slang (chiefly Canad. and Alaska).

  See also: honey bag