# Spot the American!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-american/1001212>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 7, 2024, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-american/1001212 "2024-05-07T02:31:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 18

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**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:** [May 7, 2024, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-american/1001212/18 "2024-05-07T11:25:47Z")

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> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> 5.“Asking for the bathroom in a restaurant or public place. Do you need to take a shower? No. What you’re really looking for is the toilet.”

“Where’s the toilet?”  
“In the bathroom. Duh!”

To an American, the toilet is the fixture, not the room.

> [@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?

And in searching for that old thread, I came across many others, most of which use the word “toilet” in the American sense. Sample thread titles include “It’s a room with a toilet in it. Get over it.” and “Why do some places segregate men’s and women’s bathrooms when there’s only one toilet in each room?”

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