# English folks, question about 'taking a wee'

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-folks-question-about-taking-a-wee/975173>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 18, 2022, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-folks-question-about-taking-a-wee/975173 "2022-11-18T23:18:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 22

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-folks-question-about-taking-a-wee/975173/22 "2022-11-19T14:55:21Z")

</div>

> [@PatrickLondon](#):
>
> 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…”

To an American, the “toilet” is the porcelain fixture you pee/poop into, while Brits use the word “toilet” to refer to the room in which such a fixture can be found.

> [@whats the big deal with the word "toilet" in the US?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329):
>
> so exactly why is asking “excuse me, where is the toilet?” so offensive in the US? In Australia, UK and Asian countries where english is commonly spoken thats most likely what you’d say if you’re at a restaurant and needed to go. Ask that in the US and the waiters would look at you in horror… what the crap? why does the US have such a big deal about using the actual word for the place?

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-folks-question-about-taking-a-wee/975173)._