# Get to the point **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 24, 1999, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100 "1999-05-24T15:07:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 1999, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/1 "1999-05-24T15:07:00Z")
Just a quick question. Why all the euphemisms for the toilet? In one thread I’ve just been reading there was… Bathroom Restroom Ladies room Cloakroom…but absolutely no mention of a toilet! What’s wrong with calling a spade a spade? (Or a toilet a toilet?) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 1999, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/2 "1999-05-24T16:15:00Z")
It’s an American thing, I guess. We don’t mind asking where it is, we just don’t think it’s anybody’s business why we’re going there. Asking where the toilet is, is an outright admission that we are going to take a dump. If we ask where the restroom is, we could be planning to do any assortment of less, er, “biological” things. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 1999, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/3 "1999-05-24T16:28:00Z")
It gets worse! Cecil has pointed out that toilet is the process of dressing and grooming. It was given its modern meaning as a euphemism. That is, the device has no real name, just a series of euphemisms. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 1999, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/4 "1999-06-08T19:42:00Z")
I think it should just be named after it’s alleged inventor–Thomas Crapper, who was British by the way. Why not call it the crapper? It’s functional, and credits the inventor. However, I looked into this subject (ugh!) and found a web site that claims Crapper did not actually invent the flush toilet. Although, he did advance the technology. [http://www.blkbox.com/~jct/html/157.html](http://www.blkbox.com/~jct/html/157.html) “So not only was he [Crapper] not the inventor of the flush toilet – it’s also unlikely that he really gave it his name, either. What he did do, was to carry the technology forward.” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 1999, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/5 "1999-06-08T19:45:00Z")
I like to call it the “Tinkletorium” or “The Porcilin Palace of Pleasure” * * * To deal with men by force is as impractical as to deal with nature by persuasion. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 1999, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/6 "1999-06-08T22:14:00Z")
Is the consensus, then, to use “toilet” in loo of other terms? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 1999, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/7 "1999-06-09T05:06:00Z")
Gravitas - should I condemn you for bad spelling or bad punmanship? * * * Mastery is not perfection but a journey, and the true master must be willing to try and fail and try again ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 1999, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/8 "1999-06-09T12:29:00Z")
It’s the beauty of the English language that it provides so many synonyms for all kinds of things. Just look how many synonyms there are for feces: dung poop crap shit ka-ka and so on. If the product can have this many synonyms, why can’t the product receptacle? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 1999, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/9 "1999-06-09T20:39:00Z")
Well, look at it this way. How many times do you defecate a day? I usually top out at 1. How many baths do you take a day? Here, again, I’m going to say my normal number is 1. Therefore, it is as accurate to call it a bathroom as it is to call it a toilet. Actually, it’s more accurate. The proper term should be “toiletroom” if you are naming it after a toilet. Calling it a toilet is like calling it a bathtub. Granted, when you talk about restrooms in public places, you usually don’t get a bathtub. What you get is a sink, a mirror and some manner of toilet (also urinals for guys - to make it even more complicated). However, “accuracy” has little to do with it. This is a language, not a building. There are no blueprints or plans. So people use whatever terms become popular ("water closet’ anyone?). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 1999, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/10 "1999-06-09T21:02:00Z")
I know from reading blueprints that the room in question is usually called either a lavatory or a WC. I usually see the latter when there’s not enough room to write out lavatory. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 1999, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/11 "1999-06-10T10:24:00Z")
I’m pretty sure that “lavatory” is the proper name for the bathroom sink…but hell, I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 1999, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/12 "1999-06-10T10:59:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Bathroom > Restroom > Ladies room > Cloakroom… I didn’t see any mention of the term “washroom” in your list. That’s what I use the “washroom” most for, washing my hands, brushing my teeth - yeah, I brush my teeth more often than I use the toilet - go figure. > [@](#): > > Cecil has pointed out that toilet is the process of > dressing and grooming. The toilet is just part of the washing up process. > [@](#): > > …but absolutely no mention of a toilet! What’s wrong > with calling a spade a spade? (Or a toilet a toilet?) Probably because it sounds better… Would you prefer a woman say that she has to use the toilet rather than powder her nose? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 1999, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/13 "1999-06-11T02:28:00Z")
## The room containing the porcelain fixtures is the pissoir. Designated Optional Signature at Bottom of Post ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 1999, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/14 "1999-06-11T12:11:00Z")
Soul, the dictionary says a lavatory is: (1) a room equipped with washing and often toilet facilities (2) a basin or bowl, esp. one permanently installed with running water for washing (3) a toilet ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 1999, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/15 "1999-06-11T12:33:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Would you prefer a woman say that she has to use the toilet > rather than powder her nose? Yes I would. If anyone i was out with came back and used that dreadful euphemism I would wonder what I was doing being friends with them in the first place. You are going to the toilet, so why not just say so? Everyone knows what you’re up to there’s no point being delicate about it. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 1999, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/16 "1999-06-11T15:02:00Z")
Agreed, that euphemism, “powder one’s nose”, is dreadful. You prefer that people say they are going to the toilet. I prefer them to say that they are going to the washroom. You say “tomato”, I say “tomahto”. If you prefer not to be friends with someone who uses a particular euphemism, that is your choice. As for your, “Everyone knows what you’re up to {in the washroom}”, do you really? :o ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 1999, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/17 "1999-06-11T16:46:00Z")
I always preferred the phrase, “I’m going to the office to do some work.” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 1999, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/18 "1999-06-12T05:20:00Z")
When I go to the “bathroom” you don’t know exactly what I’m doing at all. Here is a list of some of things I might do: blow my nose take a leak take a dump wash my hands fart burp Make sure I have no food on my face adjust my cajones (they tend to wander) etc… Also, a bathroom or washroom can contain multiple toilets of different types (sit-downs, stand-ups, or, as in stadiums, the cattle-trough. Since my trip to the bathroom might not result in my using a toilet, I usually refer to it as “bathroom”. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 1999, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/19 "1999-06-12T21:59:00Z")
> [@](#): > > You are going to the toilet, so why not just say so? Everyone knows what you’re up to there’s no point being delicate about it. There’s no reason to be graphic or crude about it either. At work we just refer to it as “droppping the kids off at the pool”. I haven’t heard this used in a while but isn’t “shitter” a non-euphamistic way of referring to the toilet? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 1999, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100/20 "1999-06-13T15:42:00Z")
My dad always used to announce “I have to use the throne.” Dad liked to reign o’er his subjects. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-to-the-point/1100.md?page=2)