# Are the "pee holes" in the urinals in your town shaped like a penis? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 5, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096 "2003-05-05T01:13:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/1 "2003-05-05T01:13:50Z")
OK… I have noticed (at least in most places in Ontario) that in public washrooms, the holed in the men’s room unrinals are shaped lik a penis. Am I the only one to have noticed this? Example: ``` O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O OOOOO ``` Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/2 "2003-05-05T01:24:21Z")
Now, I know I don’t have one of my own, and it’s admittedly, been a while since I’ve interacted with one, but I still think it takes a pretty vivid imagination to figure that the diagram is immediately identifiable as resembling a penis. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/3 "2003-05-05T01:24:40Z")
OK… Preview is my friend… the spacing there did not work at all and there are spelling errors. The picture of the holes in the urinal should look like this: Example: …O…O…O… …O…O… …O…O… …O…O… …O…O… …O…O… …O…O… …O…O… …O…O… …O…O… …OOOOO… ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/4 "2003-05-05T01:39:22Z")
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh… _Now_ we’re cookin’ with gas! Yeah, that’s vaguely penis-esque. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/5 "2003-05-05T02:12:56Z")
Huh? What holes are there in a urinal, besides the drain? ---
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/6 "2003-05-05T02:25:21Z")
friedo: I am referring to the shape of the drain holes. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/7 "2003-05-05T02:37:51Z")
Ok, I just had a look at the ones in the office. The drainage holes are positioned so that they form a \* circle. \* But I don’t thinmk I’ve seen any shaped like a penis. Will be on the lookout though 😉 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/8 "2003-05-05T05:03:39Z")
You Canadians are fucked up. I have pissed in urinals throughout this great land, and even some in France, and have never encountered one with drain holes in a phallic pattern. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/9 "2003-05-05T10:28:08Z")
Oh, those small holes. Phew! When I saw the thread title I feared someone had experimented or at least contemplated doing something perverse with the urinal bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Nangleator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19adc/32.png) [@Nangleator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nangleator)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/10 "2003-05-05T14:34:02Z")
green\_bladder said: > [@](#): > > Ok, I just had a look at the ones in the office. The drainage holes are positioned so that they form a circle. Well, that’s penile in cross section, right? I think we’re on to something here. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/11 "2003-05-05T14:49:02Z")
I cannot believe I am the only one who has seen this… get out there and experiment people! Cecil can answer this… Cecil, where art thou? ---
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/12 "2003-05-05T15:48:05Z")
OK… after some searching, I have found photos to prove that I am not crazy! [http://www.urinal.net/northern\_rockies/](http://www.urinal.net/northern_rockies/) [http://www.urinal.net/douglas\_park/](http://www.urinal.net/douglas_park/) [http://www.urinal.net/hope\_drive-in/](http://www.urinal.net/hope_drive-in/) Now does anyone else have urinals like this in their town? Also, are there any urinal engineers there that can answer as to why they are shaped like this? (would that hijack go into GQ?) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/13 "2003-05-05T16:49:58Z")
I’ll be damned. Those are, indeed, some phallic-looking urinal holes. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/14 "2003-05-05T19:28:49Z")
I’m not sure what I find more disturbing, the fact that **CuriousCanuck** noticed this pattern or the fact that there is a web site called [urinal.net](http://urinal.net) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/15 "2003-05-05T22:23:38Z")
I’ll suggest that the holes running up the back of the urinal are to make it less easily blocked (say by someone dropping a piece of toilet tissue in there) - sort of like a built in overflow, even so, I think it looks like the designers might have had just a little more than utility in mind. On some urinals I saw in Holland, there was a perfect image of a housefly in the glaze (in Delft Blue) - I think this is supposed to give you something to aim at. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/16 "2003-05-05T23:07:25Z")
Perhaps it is so that alien UFO visitors will understand the purpose of a urinal. I knew an American guy visiting in Europe who thought it was cool that there was a “foot bath” in his hotel bathroom next to the toilet bowl. (Perhaps we should have a contest to design the hole pattern of a bidet, for alien USA visitors to Europe.) ---
**Author:** ![schplebordnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@schplebordnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schplebordnik)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/17 "2003-05-06T01:19:55Z")
[Urinal.net](http://Urinal.net) is cool. I’ve peed in #10, the “World’s Longest Urinal” at the NYC Marathon. The funniest part about it is that you’re in a long, long line of guys taking a whiz, and there are a handful of people (men and women) at the end, snapping photos for posterity. Not for the shy. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/18 "2003-05-06T02:24:40Z")
Maybe it’s shaped that way to provide a solid area to piss upon to minimize splashback. It’s kind of a trick to have to aim along the side _a la_ pouring a warm soda. ---
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/19 "2003-05-06T14:10:16Z")
OK … apparently the urinals in question are made by Crane. The Bedford Models 7120 and 7121to be more precise. There may be other comapanies that manufacture models like this though. You can browse below. [http://www.craneplumbing.ca/eng/index.cfm](http://www.craneplumbing.ca/eng/index.cfm) Which still makes me wonder why the drain holes are still shaped so openly phallically. In any case, you will notice right below the Bedford models, there is the **Manhattan** model. No wonder Manny seems so… pissed… all the time 😉 heh. Sorry, Manny… couldn’t resist. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096/20 "2003-05-06T14:40:29Z")
> [@](#): > > [Urinal.net](http://Urinal.net) is cool. I’ve peed in #10, the “World’s Longest Urinal” at the NYC Marathon. Wow. 290 feet long. I guess you don’t have to stop running the marathon when you need to pee. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-pee-holes-in-the-urinals-in-your-town-shaped-like-a-penis/173096.md?page=2)