# bidets **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 11, 2000, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195 "2000-07-11T09:13:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/1 "2000-07-11T09:13:43Z")
I don’t own a bidet. I do not know anyone who does. I have never seen a functional bidet, in person, in my entire life. I know they are rather common in Europe. I am American. I have noticed two things whenever the topic of bidets arises. Bidets are often regarded as comical by Americans. Bidets are often regarded as mildly to highly revolting by Americans. My question is why? When did practicing hygiene become silly and disgusting? Personally, I think anyone who uses a bidet, is likely to be very hygenic. Toilet paper vs. water and antibacterial soap.[sarcasm on]Golly gee, I wonder which one is gonna win[/sarcasm off] I would use a bidet if I had one, or access to one. FWIW I really hate it when I have taken a shower and within, say an hour or less, mother nature has to come along and corrupt my cleanliness. Grrrrr! ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/2 "2000-07-11T09:18:56Z")
Uh… this may be a dumb question but… **WTH is a bidet?** ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/3 "2000-07-11T09:21:28Z")
It’s a shower for your ass. It’s installed next to the commode, and you move from the commode to the bidet to clean up. ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/4 "2000-07-11T09:23:37Z")
Ummmmmmm, lets just say if I want something blown up my ass, I will turn on CSPAN and let it be smoke. Seriously though, I think it is just a cultural thing. Perhaps if I had grown up with that sensation I would be ok with it. Having gone 27 years without experiencing it though, I imagine it being a bit uncomfortable. _I can almost hear some posters now - “What the hells a (rhymes with ‘get it’) bidit ??”_ 🙂 - **NM** ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/5 "2000-07-11T09:25:42Z")
**DAMN SIMUL-POST** ---
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/6 "2000-07-11T09:31:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TopazAntares \* > \*\*Uh… this may be a dumb question but… **WTH is a bidet?** \*\* From Merriam Webster Online Dictionary: > [@](#): > > bi\*det (noun) > > [French, small horse, bidet, from Middle French, from bider to trot] > > First appeared 1766 > > : a bathroom fixture used esp. for bathing the external genitals and the posterior parts of the body It looks very much like a toilet, missing the “water closet” part and has faucet handles. ---
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/7 "2000-07-11T09:35:41Z")
You can see a picture of one here [http://www.americanstandard-us.com](http://www.americanstandard-us.com)./scripts/consumer/products/bidets.asp ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/8 "2000-07-11T09:52:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Ummmmmmm, lets just say if I want something blown up my ass, I will turn on CSPAN and let it be smoke. BwaHaHa! _Chuckle, chuckle,_ _Snort_ OMG, I think that’s great. 😃 -Sam ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/9 "2000-07-11T10:02:05Z")
Ahhhhhh okay thanks for clarifying… I think I saw one in a movie once… I seem to recall this couple ‘borrowing’ kids from an adoption agency and somehow they ended up with a dog and the dog drinking from something that looked like a fountain only it was in the bathroom… ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/10 "2000-07-11T10:16:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TopazAntares \* > \*\*Ahhhhhh okay thanks for clarifying… I think I saw one in a movie once… I seem to recall this couple ‘borrowing’ kids from an adoption agency and somehow they ended up with a dog and the dog drinking from something that looked like a fountain only it was in the bathroom… \*\* Don’t you remember Corcodile Dundee? He walked into his bathroom in NY and looking at it like it was part of a martian landscape? Hmm Topaz, I don’t know about you! 🙂 -Sam ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/11 "2000-07-11T12:38:27Z")
I found a bidet exquisitely useful when I went to Paris. In our room, we had a bidet and a washbasin; the toilet was down the hall and the shower was in the top floor. Since the shower cost money to use, the bidet served us well. I loved this section from that webpage that was cited: > [@](#): > > Bidets offer a special feeling. Clean and refreshed. But somehow elevated. As if 2000 years of western civilization took place solely for your benefit. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/12 "2000-07-11T12:41:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Since the shower cost money to use, the bidet served us well. Blech Matt! That’s nasty… Besides, the french don’t take showers, why did you feel the need? You know, when in Rome… BwaHaHa -Sam ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/13 "2000-07-11T12:45:37Z")
I was wondering about bidets, myself. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=11932](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=11932) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/14 "2000-07-11T13:35:30Z")
An important thin – Do Not Pee in the Bidet. Dave Barry has a lot to say about this in “Dave Barry’s Travel Guide”, apparently because a lot of Americans, unfamiliar with the bidet, mistake it for a toilet. I know I did – the first time I saw one I was a kid traveling Europe with a bunch of other kids. We all peed in the bidet. We learned better the next morning. This ignorance is supposed to be a sign of American boorishness and insularity, but I have to note that the hotel where this took place had dead pigeons in the shutters and dried blood on some sheets, so I can live with criticisms from them. I think American manufacturers are losing out by not publicizing the bidet more – think of the market for Bidet Cleansers and special Bidet Soap and Bidet Liners! ---
**Author:** ![kiffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d78d45/32.png) [@kiffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiffa)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/15 "2000-07-11T15:14:30Z")
Some one asked the other day what are the best things in life? I forgot about bidets until this thread. I love 'em and think that American home builders are doing us an injustice by not automatically including these wonderful inventions which are good for: \> washing the baby \> washing your tush \> washing your feet \> drinking water for your dog ['cept we have dachshunds] \> washing out your stockings [if you wear 'em] and socks \> someplace to drop your wet bathing suit but the most important benefit is for the ladies. Yes, a bidget is a wonderful water jet “vibrator”. You can heat the water temperator. You can adjust the pressure. You can hold on the faucet handles when the ultimate comes. And you can wash yourself off immediately without moving. Yes, bidets had to be invented or inspired by a woman. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/16 "2000-07-11T15:22:02Z")
Those old enough, might remember a USA paperless toilet, 70’s I think it was. There was a button that shoots water on your butt & then another one that shot dry air to dry your butt. Marvelous item, eh? Have no idea what happened to them. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/17 "2000-07-11T16:31:15Z")
When I was in europe during the summer of '95, I frequently came across bidets in hotel bathrooms. Rather nice feel, especially after a swim in the mediteranean. We used them to get the sand out of our shorts (swim trunks). Plus they had towels so we could really get our cheeks nice and dry. And they say the Europeans don’t have proper hygiene . . . ---
**Author:** ![lunapark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/278dde/32.png) [@lunapark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lunapark)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/18 "2000-07-11T18:48:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Yes, a bidget is a wonderful water jet “vibrator”. You can heat the water temperator. You can adjust the pressure. You can hold on the faucet handles when the ultimate comes. And you can wash yourself off immediately without moving. Sounds Great!! where can i get one? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/19 "2000-07-11T20:27:53Z")
I’m sure that even American plumbing emporia have them and are desperate to get rid of them. Happy hunting. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195/20 "2000-07-11T21:07:07Z")
Our first overseas assignment was Okinawa, where we had to live off-base for a year while waiting for an on-base unit to become available. The first day we moved into our Japanese style apartment, we were investigating all the strange and new features, when I heard spluttering and swearing coming from the bathroom. Turns out BLuesman had been leaning over the toilet, trying to figure out what all the buttons and dials did, and discovered that one of them caused a little spigot to emerge from under the seat and squirt water upwards. BTW, I still have fond memories of that toilet. The Japanese are _way_ ahead of us in personal hygiene technology. It had a heated, vibrating seat, variable temp. and spray controls on the little spigot…mmmmm. I really miss that toilet. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidets/25195.md?page=2)