The many ways to refer to "The smallest room in the house"

[Almirena]

As I understand it, in the US it's referred to as the bathroom.

Some areas in the US might say restroom.

Australia has some colourful ways of describing this "smallest room in the house", and some terms used are clearly more international.

Welcome, then, to this thread in which the W.C. is given the full scrutiny. All right, not the FULL scrutiny... but at least a passing glance. (This thread is inspired by DPX's thread on American vs British English.)

The powder room - a very coy euphemism deriving from balls and bang-up dinners at hotels and restaurants.

The little boy's room/little girl's room - if possible, even coyer than the powder room terminology. Twee, even.

The toilet. Straight out, to the point, used universally in Australia.

Loo. Equally popular as a term in Australia.

Water Closet - nobody says this. Some might jokingly refer to the W.C. knowing that even as an acronym, this isn't very current.

Facilities - for those who balk at saying something like, "May I use your toilet?", there's always the euphemistic, "May I use your facilities?" The drawback is that while some people will readily understand what the person's referring to, others won't.

Dunny. This is a good old Australian outback/rural tradition - the outdoor dunny, usually wooden, usually with old paint peeling under the hot sun, usually infested with spiders, usually reeking of the unmentionable, and usually relying on septic tanks or even - good lord - other methods that we won't go into for cleaning up the refuse.

Necessarium - admittedly this is an anachronism straight out of a Latin monastery, but you have to admit it has STYLE.

US visitors in Australia are recommended not to ask for a bathroom or washroom, as they'd probably be shown to the real literal bathroom.

[Fender_178]

Correct it is referred to as Bathroom or Restroom here in the US.
I have seen people use either bathroom or restroom when I was still going to school (whether grade school or JR High or high school. ) Ya we use toilet here in the U.S but on very rare occasion we use Jon. I some times use pot as describing the toilet as in a chamber pot from the distant past. Closet might have a different word which means the same thing. I think the Uk uses washtub in the same way we use bathtub.

[Jules]

"Excuse me while I use the porcelain throne."

[DeadPoolX]

In my dad's house, my mom (when she was alive) had a small restroom she entitled "the powder room." None of us were allowed to use it, which begs the question: "why does it exist?"

To this day, I still have no idea. However, whenever I visit my dad, I still refrain from using it (both my dad and brother do, too).

As for what we call the bathroom/restroom... my brother refers to that room as "the shitter." Of course, he only does that when he has an opportunity to shock someone or when I'm drinking, so he gets me to choke water up through my nose.

[Rudy]

Ever heard of "the room where the emperor goes on foot"? Yep, the expression is used sometimes. Well... at least my mom uses it... No idea where she got it from, probably from her mom. It seems to travel through generations...

[AndreaDraco]

I can also add that in this particular zone of Italy (at least I don't think that's a general thing), the bathroom/restroom is sometimes called with the name "Giorgio", which is an actual name for male people. I don't know why, I never called it that way myself and I'll never ask!

[Rath Darkblade]

Ever heard of "the room where the emperor goes on foot"? Yep, the expression is used sometimes. Well... at least my mom uses it... No idea where she got it from, probably from her mom. It seems to travel through generations...

*puts his hand up* I've heard of it! *smile* It's probably a semi-translation from "Lobachevsky", a very funny song by Tom Lehrer. (If you've never heard of Lehrer, take a listen to his discography. You'll be glad you did). Anyway, the song is a quirky look at how Mr Lehrer ended up being a mathematician, and is usually sung with a semi-Russian accent, with semi-Russian injected in places. At one point in the song, Mr Lehrer sings this:

'I will never forget the day...
My first book is published.
This book was sensational!
Pravda... ay, Pravda... Pravda said:

"Zhil byl korol' kogda-to, Pri njom blokha zhilai" - it stinks.

But Izvestia! Izvestia said:

"Ya idu kuda sam tzar' idot peshkom..." - It stinks.'

The second Russian quote means, roughly, "I go where the Tsar goes on foot". But if you don't know Russian, it sounds like Izvestia is reviewing his book and saying that it stinks. (I'm not sure what the first Russian quote means - can anyone tell me?)

Anyway, back to the humble porcelain throne... I suppose 'privy' is one way to refer to the toilet - and here's a historical oddity: at least two English kings died on the toilet.

Edmund II or Eadmund, a Saxon king who ruled for only 7 months, was famously nicknamed 'Ironside' for fending off the Danish Viking invasions. On 30 November 1016, he died in Oxford or London and his territories were ceded to Canute who then became king of England. The cause of Edmund's death has never been clear, with many accounts listing natural causes, while others suggest that he was assassinated.

The most fanciful theory is that he was killed by an assassin hidden in his privy (yuck!) who stabbed him as he sat down. The story is that the assassin was hired by one of Edmund's thanes, Edric Streona, who was hoping to curry favour with Canute. He presented himself to Canute saying, 'Hail! thou who art sole king of England' and told the Dane what he had done. To his surprise Canute was angry and replied, 'For this deed I will exalt you, as it merits, higher than all the nobles of England.' He then commanded that Edric should be decapitated and his head placed upon a pole on the highest battlement.

More than 700 years later, King George II died in the best traditions of English farce - the king died on the toilet. On the morning of 25 October 1760 the King rose early and, having drunk a cup of chocolate, retired to the toilet. Moments afterwards, a loud sound was heard, followed by a groan. His valet was alarmed, the sound being rather louder than the royal wind tended to be, and so he ran into the privy only to find that the King was lying on the floor, having cut his face as he fell. He was carried back to his bed but was found to have died instantly; the sound was the ventricle of his heart bursting. Those who knew him, and who knew his cruel treatment of his son Frederick (also nicknamed 'Poor Fred'), must have been surprised that the king had a heart to burst.

Anyway, I'm digressing... *blush*

[Rudy]

If that is true, than King George II was not the only king being killed while on the toilet. In "Predjamski Grad", an old castle built inside the entrance of a cave near Postojna, Slovenia (only 20 km from where i live), there was a siege many centuries ago. Since the siegers could not get inside the castle and suffered grave losses among their troops, they infiltrated a spy to locate the king and signal his location to the men at the canons outside the walls. When the king went to the toilet, which was a small room separate from the rest of the castle, he got literally nuked with cannonballs. OUCH !

[Taryn]

In Germany it's "Toilette" (the final e is pronounced) or "WC".

Here in metro Detroit it's usually bathroom or restroom...there's also "rest area", which usually refers to the ones along highways for travellers in the long expanses between cities elsewhere in Michigan.

It's funny, in our family we started calling using a bathroom "emptying". This eventually metamorphosed sometimes into the letters "MT" (because they sound kinda like "empty") and now sometimes I'll just pronounce them, like "mmt" or something. I'm good at pronouncing consonants without vowels in between. Maybe I should learn Russian? LOL

[misslilo]

Where does the outhouse come from? I've heard this one used for the little room

[Tawmis]

The Throne's Chamber.

[Jules]

I can also add that in this particular zone of Italy (at least I don't think that's a general thing), the bathroom/restroom is sometimes called with the name "Giorgio", which is an actual name for male people. I don't know why, I never called it that way myself and I'll never ask!

Same here, only we use the name John.

Where does the outhouse come from? I've heard this one used for the little room.

A house that's outside! That's where you'd go before the days of plumbing.

[Collector]

Where does the outhouse come from? I've heard this one used for the little room

When it was a little shack off of the house. Usually not much more than a seat over a very deep hole.

[Rudy]

Until recently (say a century ago), the poor people shared toilets, usually 1 "toilet house" per street or block, each having several seats next to eachother with no separation (not even between genders) and just a big hole underneath. It was quite an entertaining social event to go for a... cough... nevermind... Since everybody had to go out of their house to go to the toilet, my guess is that's where the name comes from.

[AndreaDraco]

Same here, only we use the name John.

I didn't know!

I'm wondering: why? Mumble mumble...