Funny how expressions persist; we talk about hoovering the
carpet when we mean vacuuming. Many of us still talk about pulling the chain
when we mean flushing the toilet (probably by actioning a small lever or
bushing a button); I suspect some who talk of pulling the chain have no idea
that they are referring to the days when the cistern was mounted high on the
wall above the lavatory pan and the flush was activated by pulling on a handle
attached to a chain which went to the arm on the cistern. The height of the
cistern was presumably to gain as much power as possible to the waterfall that
cleaned out the bowl. Just about everyone pulled the chain in the 50s.
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