We discovered BritBox about 6 moths ago and are loving the English programming. But one thing that stands out (to me at least) is how English girls/women are frequently proclaiming they have to have a wee.
Girls of all ages seem to do this. It’s not rampant, of course, but I don’t hear the men talk about it and I don’t believe I remember American women talking about it as much, on TV anyway.
Last night we were watching a program and a middle-aged women walked into a house and just blurted out, I need a wee.
Is it a cultural thing or a difference in the language? Why not just say, may I use your restroom?
I’m sure there are very refained ways for British ladies to indicate the need, but if you’re looking at comedy shows, they’re doing what they think is funny. Also, there is quite a range of (what we call) sitcom raunchiness you can see on BritBox, from Mrs. Brown’s Boys to Keeping Up Appearances. Not to mention the comedy panel shows, where the language can be pretty blue (and very very funny).
I’m always struck by the way Americans take what Brits have; they “have a look”, or a poo*, or a thought, where we “take a look”, or a crap, or thought.
They do, of course, take the piss; but it’s not at all the same thing as an American taking a piss.
*And I have no idea why they say “poo” and we say “poop”.
Yeah, we have Acorn, and we mostly watch they mysteries and dramas – which we love. I’ve attempted a few comedies and most were dreadfully unfunny or lost in translation.
Oh, man. Try the comedy panel shows like 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, or Would I Lie To You or the late Mock The Week. If Lee Mack teasing David Mitchell, or Dara Ò Briain riffing with Ed Byrne, doesn’t crack you up, you might need a humor transplant.
What seems interesting to me about the OP is the fact that this apparently something primarily women do? Do men use a different term, e.g. “I need to take a piss”?
I dunno what the typical jargon among men is. My only point of reference is a scene from Children of Men (which takes place in Britain) and one man alerts the main character that they’ll be keeping their eye on him:
“'Cause we’ll be watching you. At work, when you sleep, when you have a piss, we’ll be watching.”
I don’t know any adult who announces a need to perform any particular act. If they know where the facilities are, they just go without calling attention to it. If they need directions, they ask for the bathroom (in a residence) or the restroom (at a public place).
It depends entirely on which sort of character in which sort of programme. You wouldn’t hear it in an adaptation of a Jane Austen or a Dickens, or Downton Abbey. But you could well in a raucous comedy where the characters are family or friends.
In real life, similarly different standards of politeness apply as between strangers and close friends and family.
And, as noted, we have a different range of euphemism. We think “bathroom” and “restroom” are needlessly misleading (conveniently forgetting that “toilet” and “lavatory”’ and “WC” were originally equally euphemistic), but have settled on “loo” as a neutral/acceptable term. Those for whom that’s too overt would get by with a vague “Where’s the erm…”
In this British movie (a comedy/drama), a boy of about 9-10 at one point tells his caretaker, “I need a wee.”
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hermione (she would have been 14ish??) says, of using the bathroom that Moaning Myrtle haunts, “It’s awful having a pee in there…”
Never said I couldn’t live with it.