# Bathroom Tissue, WTF is that? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2001, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160 "2001-08-31T18:06:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/41 "2013-01-02T13:18:15Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > English (either side of the pond) _has no proper word for the room with the toilet in it._ To the best of my knowledge that’s an Americanism. In British usage the word _toilet_ means both the porcelain god and the room it’s in. > **[toilet](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/toilet?q=toilet_1)** > > 1. a bowl-shaped device with a seat that you sit on or stand near when emptying… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/42 "2013-01-02T16:44:14Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > To the best of my knowledge that’s an Americanism. In British usage the word _toilet_ means both the porcelain god and the room it’s in. > > [TOILET | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/toilet_1?q=toilet) It’s no different in America than it is in Britain. The point is that “toilet” also originates as a euphemism. The literal meaning of “toilet” is the process of preparing to engage in social interaction by cleaning, dressing, etc. That was extended to the room in which such preparation happens. and by euphemistic use to the porcelain appliance. So, all words for the porcelain appliance originate as euphemisms. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/43 "2013-01-02T16:54:06Z")
> [@willrolt](#): > > Dingles has a “ladies’ powder room” (a reference to cocaine?) and a “gentlemens’ rest room”. I believe they were also, at one time, famous for providing fruit in the powder room lobby as a complementary refreshment. Hence, “Dingle’s Berries”. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/44 "2013-01-02T17:04:03Z")
The stupidest commercial for toilet paper was the one with everybody whispering the words “toilet paper” as if it was a dirty word. Where I grew up, everyone called it toilet paper and there was no more stigma attached to the term than there was to words such as door or chair. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/45 "2013-01-02T19:44:32Z")
I’ve never come across bathroom tissue. No wait, that’s not what I meant. I’ve never seen it called “bathroom tissue”. The packaging here in Britain calls it “toilet tissue”. [Blunt and to the point](http://stressedrach.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/july2012reviews/andrex.jpg) (puppy not included). Mind you, it could be blunter… (possibly NSFW so link broken with spaces) http:// www. [bagnall.co](http://bagnall.co). uk/b3ta/andrex.jpg 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/46 "2013-01-03T00:27:08Z")
> [@codgerone](#): > > Yeah it’s called Downing Street these days. > > There also used to be a London street called Gropecunt Lane. I think that got changed too. And John Dryden’s poem “Mac Flecknoe” immortalizes [Pissing-Alley](http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides8/Flecknoe.html) (see Line 47), which has apparently been lost to redevelopment. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/47 "2013-01-03T00:46:54Z")
For English-speaking consumers, it’s much easier on the mouth muscles to quickly and **clearly** pronounce “toilet paper” than “bathroom tissue.” For manufacturers, they don’t want to acknowledge that your wiping anus with it. The Charmin Bears have changed that… ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/48 "2013-01-03T08:39:23Z")
It’s called t[oilet paper](http://www.kleenex-cottonelle.com.au/toilet-paper/) here in Australia. Now with Gripples! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/49 "2013-01-03T09:05:26Z")
“Toilet paper” itself is an euphemism. What it really is, is a crotch wipe. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/50 "2013-01-03T09:10:43Z")
> [@hrhomer](#): > > For English-speaking consumers, it’s much easier on the mouth muscles to quickly and **clearly** pronounce “toilet paper” than “bathroom tissue.” For manufacturers, they don’t want to acknowledge that your wiping anus with it. The Charmin Bears have changed that… Go to [www.charmin.com](http://www.charmin.com). The page is clearly titled “Charmin Toilet Paper”. On the other hand, their advertising motto now seem to be “Why not enjoy the go?”, where “the go” seems to be a euphemism for “go to the bathroom”, so… yeah. Cottonelle also calls their product toilet paper, but Scott, Quilted Northern, and Angel Soft use some variant of “bath tissue”. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/51 "2013-01-03T12:22:29Z")
> [@hrhomer](#): > > For English-speaking consumers, it’s much easier on the mouth muscles to quickly and **clearly** pronounce “toilet paper” than “bathroom tissue.” For manufacturers, they don’t want to acknowledge that your wiping anus with it. The Charmin Bears have changed that… > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Go to [www.charmin.com](http://www.charmin.com). The page is clearly titled “Charmin Toilet Paper”. On the other hand, their advertising motto now seem to be “Why not enjoy the go?”, where “the go” seems to be a euphemism for “go to the bathroom”, so… yeah. Yes, that’s my point, hence “The Charmin Bears have changed that…” ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/52 "2013-01-03T23:56:11Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > It’s called t[oilet paper](http://www.kleenex-cottonelle.com.au/toilet-paper/) here in Australia. Now with Gripples! I buy Cottonelle in the US, and was surprised just now to look on the package and see that it actually is, in teeny-tiny letters, mind you, toilet paper instead of “bathroom tissue”. There is hope! Although Cottonelle is rippled, I have not seen the term “gripples” used here (yet). ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/53 "2013-01-04T00:15:31Z")
> [@hrhomer](#): > > Yes, that’s my point, hence “The Charmin Bears have changed that…” It took me forever to realize those commercials are playing on “does a bear shit in the woods.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160/54 "2013-01-04T06:34:03Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Can you think of any other instances where a product is named one thing by the seller, but it is almost universally refered to by another, non-trademarked, name? Seller: manufactured home Public: trailer house [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-tissue-wtf-is-that/79160.md?page=2)