Bathroom and Toilet
By vikas121
@vikas121 (296)
7 responses
@CharityHobbs27 (33)
• Ireland
1 Sep 11
haha in Ireland we call it 'the loo' :) This is actually interesting, I've never heard it called a 'comfort room' either :)
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
1 Sep 11
In America, it is the 'bathroom' (regardless of whether there is a bath there or not), 'the restroom', the 'washroom' and many other things.
In the UK and Ireland, the most common word is now 'the loo' (or the 'Gents' or the 'Ladies', if you are in a public place like a restaurant or bar). About 30 years ago, most people would have called it the 'toilet'. Here, 'bathroom' always means the place where you have a bath (but there is almost always a toilet in the same room) but most people would understand what you meant if you asked where it was.
Usually it is considered impolite to specify which function you want to perform but many people now simply say "I need a pee" or something like that ... it very much depends what company you are in. I have heard many Americans say that they "have to go potty". In England, 'going potty' means going mad or becoming senile!
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
1 Sep 11
Mr Smacksman (above) reminds me that, in our family, it was always called the lavatory (which actually, literally, means the washroom) whether there was a basin there to wash your hands or not. The term for 'pee' was 'little jobs' (but only for children) and the other was 'big jobs'. This caused me quite a lot of embarrassment when I went to school because other people had different names for those functions and I got laughed at quite a bit!
@smacksman (6053)
•
1 Sep 11
Bathroom is where the bath is located.
Lavatory is where the lavatory pan, water closet, WC or loo is located. There must be a hundred different words for a crapper (named after Mr. Crapper who invented it)
Toilet is what you do in the bathroom - shave; oil skin; pull out hairs; etc
Rest room/comfort room and the like are American niceties to avoid the embarresment of giving a perfectly normal name to a perfectly normal function - 'I'm going to the lavatory'.
@strawberrychocodahi (4818)
• Philippines
1 Sep 11
I don't know about what others use to term that but I never ever use the word bathroom when I meant that I was going to pee, I always tell hubby I'm in the toilet or ask people where is your toilet or if that was in a restaurant, I always say where is the comfort room, not bathroom
.
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@vikas121 (296)
•
1 Sep 11
I live in a rent room. Oneday morning I was about to go to toilet(not to pee). There was another mate. I asked him did he want to go first. He said I have to go to bathroom(He meant to pee). I told him its always toilet whatever you do there.
But I was suspected if I was right. Cause most people here use "go to bathroom" for go to pee.
@ARShams (82)
• Pakistan
1 Sep 11
For either of the two I usually call that 'washroom', which seems a courteous way of telling others.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
1 Sep 11
We always say "going to the bathroom." Since both the bathtub and the toilet are in the same room, why not? It would be like saying "I'm going to the kitchen" Or garage, or whatever. Because I'm going to the garage doesn't mean necessarily mean I'm going to get the car out. At least that's the way it seems to me! 
