  cottaging is a british gay slang term referring to anonymous sex between men in a public lavatory (a "cottage", "cottage noun a public lavatory used for homosexual encounters (uk)." "tea-room" "tearoom; t-room noun a public toilet. from an era when a great deal of homosexual contact was in public toilets; probably an abbreviation of 'toilet room'. or "beat"), or cruising for sexual partners with the intention of having sex elsewhere.sex tips for gay guys by dan anderson; published by macmillan, 2002; isbn 0-312-28873-5, isbn 978-0-312-28873-0 the term has its roots in self-contained english toilet blocks resembling small cottages in their appearance; in the english cant language of polari this became a double entendre by gay men referring to sexual encounters.fantabulosa: a dictionary of polari and gay slang by paul baker; published by continuum international publishing group, 2004; isbn 0-8264-7343-1, isbn 978-0-8264-7343-1. "cottage" is documented as having been in use during the victorian era to refer to a public toilet and by the 1960s had become an exclusively homosexual slang term. the word used in this sense is predominantly british (a cottage more commonly being a small, cosy, countryside home), though the term is occasionally used with the same meaning in other parts of the world.{{cite book|year=1984|author=
British_culture Casual_sex LGBT_culture LGBT_slang Male_homosexuality Toilets