number one and number two as euphemisms for urinate/defecate. rationale for which is which?

Question

After years of never knowing which is which, I finally looked it up and it seems number one is firmly taking a pee, while number two is taking a poo.

This seems quite arbitrary so I am wondering the rationale for it?  (I spoke French as a child to my parents, rather than English, so I don't have an early familiarity to fall back on - crude English slang is what I used with other kids).

Is it that we normally tend to pee way more often than we take a crap so that ends up as number 1?  But you could equally say that defecating is way more complicated and problematic if you aren't near proper facilities.  Especially for men who find it easy to pee messily in emergencies.  So that would make it a candidate for #1.

Or is it just a convention without basis?

Also, are non-North Americans English speakers (UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ...) also familiar with it?

aparente001 · Answer

The euphemisms #1 and #2 are most needed by parents of small children.  Small children usually learn to control urination first.

Pete · Answer

I don't know if this is accurate, but I saw a similar Question on quora where someone said it was related to how many times you'd need to flush.
It's definitely true that the expression dates back to approximately the same time as the invention of the flush toilet. (Give or take a couple decades) so it's not an unreasonable thought

number one and number two as euphemisms for urinate/defecate. rationale for which is which?

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