# How do other cultures say, "I have to go to the bathroom."? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 23, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916 "2016-04-23T16:52:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/21 "2016-04-25T10:39:23Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > Swedish: Jag måste gå på toaletten. > > Icelandic: Ég þarf að fara á klósettið. > > (Both litterally translate into: I have to go to the toilet) Actually, the Swedish sentence would literally translate to “I have to go on the toilet”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/22 "2016-04-25T10:44:38Z")
In Thai, the phrase “going to the bathroom” is common – “bathroom” being _hong nahm_, literally “water room” but same same. But there are also some colorful ones – “to shoot a rabbit” for men and “to pick some flowers” for ladies. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/23 "2016-04-25T10:54:29Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > For Spanish: "Casa de pepé. Donde esta casa de pepé? > > Well, that’s what Steve Martin told us to say. The only Pepé I know is a skunk with an eyesight problem… are you sure you want to go there? In real Spanish, the politest versions would be equivalent to “back in a minute”: _(dame un momento,) ahora vuelvo_. It doesn’t say what that person is doing at all, the same expression would be valid to go get some documents or look something up. Less polite, “I have to go to the toilet” _tengo que ir al baño_ (or any of the other zillion words meaning toilet). Only to be said among the kind of people with whom you can afford to be impolite, euphemisms such as “I’m going to see whether I plant a pine” _voy a ver si planto un pino_ (evidently related to those logs other people drop) or “I’m going to change the water for the canary” _voy a cambiarle el agua al canario_, which is not appropriate for women as women don’t have birdies. On the other hand, everybody can say “I’m going to water the plants”, _voy a regar las plantas_. Again, merely a small sample. Most often heard where people of extreme ages are present and definitely not appropriate for polite company, samples include “I need to go pee” _tengo que ir a mear_ or “I’m about ready to shit myself” _me estoy cagando_, as biologically appropriate. Of course, either verb has a ton of synonyms. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/24 "2016-04-25T11:56:53Z")
Now that pontoon season is upon us, “need to hit the head” is boatspeak for the captain finding some deserted shoreline. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/25 "2016-04-25T12:15:28Z")
I have to visit Joe under the sidewalk. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/26 "2016-04-25T12:28:48Z")
In Thai, the phrase ปวดท้อง /puat thong/ meaning ‘stomach ache’ is also used to mean ‘I need a bowel movement.’ It frequently throws me off — does he need a medicine, doctor or bathroom? The terse Thai language is full of ambiguities, though an extra word (in this case ขี้ /khii/ ‘defecate’) can often be added to resolve ambiguity. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/27 "2016-04-25T12:39:10Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > In Australia, it’s far more common to say, “I have to go to the toilet.” Aussies don’t use the term “bathroom” or “washroom” much when they’re actually talking about the toilet. > > You also sometimes hear euphemisms like _ **“I have to use the facilities,”** _ or “I have to go to the loo” (very English in origin) or “I have to see a man about a dog.” I’m American and that is my go-to phrase, often preceeded with a ‘pardon me’ if I am in a group. After several visits to England I started saying “I need to use the WC”, but that sounded rather pretentious (especially in Alabama), so I don’t use that anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/28 "2016-04-25T13:15:58Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > je dois faire pipi… If you’re less than 12 because if you’re an adult, it sounds a little quaint and cutesy. _Je dois aller aux toilettes_. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/29 "2016-04-25T15:48:04Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > Swedish: Jag måste gå på toaletten. Or, more casually and informally, “jag ska gå på toa.” ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/30 "2016-04-25T17:22:46Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > In Australia, it’s far more common to say, “I have to go to the toilet.” Aussies don’t use the term “bathroom” or “washroom” much when they’re actually talking about the toilet. > > You also sometimes hear euphemisms like “I have to use the facilities,” or “I have to go to the loo” (very English in origin) or “I have to see a man about a dog.” English English is full of euphemisms - “Let me show you the geography of the house”, “spend a penny”, “pay a call” and the like, but usually it’d be no more than an “Excuse me, I must just…” before exiting, or “Where’s the… um/er…?” with a raised eyebrow. As for Australia, one of my great-aunts who went to visit her son in Australia came back (in the 50s) with a tale of some ocker-ish type asking her in a hotel “Lady, where’s the dunny round here?” to which she was proud of replying “Well over there is a door marked ‘Gentlemen’, but you can ignore that and go straight through”. ---
**Author:** ![Sampsiceramos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Sampsiceramos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampsiceramos)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/31 "2016-04-25T17:26:16Z")
In Denmark, the very polite, formal, almost stilted way of expressing it is: “Jeg skal bruge toilettet.” In practice, you’re more likely to hear a variety of more or less vulgar regionalisms, e.g: - “Jeg skal tisse.” More likely to be heard from children, but not outright cutesy or childlike by default. - “Jeg skal på das.” Rural undertones. Often said in my father’s extended family, who hail from a more rural part of Denmark that still speak a dialect that can be unintelligible to non-locals. - “Jeg skal pisse.” Depending on the degree of familiarity between speakers, ranges from vulgar and rude to standard fare. To those who are more linguistically inclined, the most apt comparison I can make in terms of its connotations is to the Japanese pronoun “ore.” It almost suggests that one intends to not just urinate, but do so _forcefully_, and will most often be used by men as a sort of very subtle masculine verbal posturing. To hear it from a woman is very rare, in my experience. - “Jeg skal på lokum.” Also carries rural/blue-collar undertones, and somewhat vulgar. There are many other odd expressions which do not see widespread use, but there is one odd euphemism in particular that I find quite endearing: “Jeg skal rette vandlåsen ud.” Directly translated this means that one intends to expel waste with such force that it will straighten out the plumbing. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/32 "2016-04-25T18:15:24Z")
People seem unaware that toilet is a euphemism - to do one’s toilet is to fix one’s hair and put on makeup. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/33 "2016-04-25T20:40:53Z")
> [@Sampsiceramos](#): > > There are many other odd expressions which do not see widespread use, but there is one odd euphemism in particular that I find quite endearing: “Jeg skal rette vandlåsen ud.” Directly translated this means that one intends to expel waste with such force that it will straighten out the plumbing. The most brilliantly disgusting and vulgar version I have ever heard in the Danish - or any! - language is still “jeg skal tømme ryggen,” meaning “I’m going to empty my back.” Not your back_side_, mind you, but your _back_, almost as if you had faeces stored all the way up along your spine. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/34 "2016-04-25T23:34:47Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > In Australia, it’s far more common to say, “I have to go to the toilet.” Aussies don’t use the term “bathroom” or “washroom” much when they’re actually talking about the toilet. > > You also sometimes hear euphemisms like “I have to use the facilities,” or **“I have to go to the loo” (very English in origin)** or “I have to see a man about a dog.” Two English women go on a vacation to Paris. After two days, one of them says, “I can’t believe I haven’t been to the the Louvre yet!” The other says, “Me neither. Do you suppose it’s the water?” ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/35 "2016-04-25T23:44:46Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > ASL uses the sign for["toilet"](http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/t/toilet.htm) . Asking a child if they need to go is covered on the same page - i would use the expressions, or similar, or trying to figure out where it is., but might use it with the sign for “where.” If you are, for example, riding in a car with someone, and you have to ask them to stop, you’d sign EXCUSE-ME NEED TOILET. The funny thing is, some younger people, when they sign the word TOILET, with a T, mouth the word bathroom. Some Deaf people, when they are talking with hearing people, use an R for RESTROOM, instead of a T. ---
**Author:** ![Sampsiceramos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Sampsiceramos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampsiceramos)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/36 "2016-04-26T05:05:55Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > The most brilliantly disgusting and vulgar version I have ever heard in the Danish - or any! - language is still “jeg skal tømme ryggen,” meaning “I’m going to empty my back.” Not your back_side_, mind you, but your _back_, almost as if you had faeces stored all the way up along your spine. :eek: We have some… _shockers_, if you will. One of the most vulgar and distasteful expressions I’m personally familiar with (which is literally never used in polite company on pain of social ostracism) is “Jeg skal klemme en kongoleser i fajancen”, which translates literally to “I have to squeeze a Congolese into the earthenware.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/37 "2016-04-26T08:34:10Z")
> [@Sampsiceramos](#): > > We have some… _shockers_, if you will. One of the most vulgar and distasteful expressions I’m personally familiar with (which is literally never used in polite company on pain of social ostracism) is “Jeg skal klemme en kongoleser i fajancen”, which translates literally to “I have to squeeze a Congolese into the earthenware.” Huh. I’d’ve though that’d be a Belgian expression. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/38 "2016-04-26T08:44:13Z")
Indonesians may be euphemistic and say they are going to the “kamar kecil” or “belakang” - the little room or the back. Or, they may use the word “toilet.” Which isn’t a euphemism for anything in Indonesian - it means the spot where you relieve yourself. “WC” (pronounced way-chay) is also used, derived from Water Closet. I thought that was quaint when I first heard it - now it just seems normal. ---
**Author:** ![Sampsiceramos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Sampsiceramos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampsiceramos)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/39 "2016-04-26T09:25:35Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Huh. I’d’ve though that’d be a Belgian expression. I can’t rule out that it’s originally of Belgian import. It’s certainly an archaism, and a racist one at that. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916/40 "2016-04-26T09:30:17Z")
Nope, not Belgian. We are more delicate: the first equivalent I can think of is _“J’ai une taupe au guichet”_ (literally: _“I have at mole (i.e. the small mammal) at the counter”_). You know, as if it was pushing up its little head against the window, wondering when you’re going to open. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-other-cultures-say-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom/752916.md?page=3)