rent-a-john
Rent-a-john is an American informal term for a portable toilet — the kind rented for outdoor events, construction sites, or any temporary facility.
Definitions
Rent-a-john is an American informal term for a portable toilet — the kind rented for outdoor events, construction sites, or any temporary facility. It plays on the slang 'john' for toilet, framing the portable unit as something you hire rather than own. The register is breezy and informal, typical of American casual speech. The phrase implies a certain unglamorous practicality: you wouldn't call a fancy event bathroom a rent-a-john, but a festival toilet block is fair game.
The construction crew had a rent-a-john at the end of the block, which drew some complaints from the neighbours.
Comments
(US) A portable toilet.
Comments
Have a better definition?
Add your own interpretation of "rent-a-john".
🗺️About Regional & Other slang
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
Tags
Other words near "rent-a-john" (R)
Browse all slang words starting with R.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- john72%
(slang, US) A device or place for urination and defecation: now usually a toilet or lavatory, but also (dated) a chamber pot or outhouse.
- Cousin John64%
(US, slang, obsolete) A place or device for urination and defecation: an outhouse or chamber pot.
- johnless64%
(slang, US, rare) Without a device or place for urination and defecation.
- johnnie64%
British slang for a condom, used casually and without much embarrassment in everyday conversation. 'Johnnie' (also spelled 'johnny') has been part of British sexual vocabulary for decades, sitting somewhere between crude and quaint — not as clinical as 'condom' but far less awkward than some alternatives. It's the kind of word you'd hear in a pub conversation or in a British sitcom, characteristically British in its matter-of-fact approach to an intimate subject.