Teaching body parts and gender in the new millennium.

[Wallenstein]

@lobstermobster

What bothers me the most is the cutesy names for going to the restroom. […] When I was little I told my parents “I need to use the restroom.”

Hah! Bloody yanks.

Calling it the “restroom” is just as bad… you really go to put your feet up and take a nap in there?

What’s wrong with “toilet” or “lavatory”?

“Restroom”, sheesh!

[H3Knuckles]

@e-logic

Hah! Bloody yanks.

Calling it the “restroom” is just as bad… you really go to put your feet up and take a nap in there?

What’s wrong with “toilet” or “lavatory”?

“Restroom”, sheesh!

well, if you’re going to nitpick, isn’t toilet a euphemism too, technically speaking?

…

As for the singular “they,” I’m pretty sure there’s a Straight Dope column that’ll back me up on this, I just need to go search for it. Here, roughly in the middle of the article. I’ve got some other (better) sources, but it’ll take me longer to dig them up.

[Obsidian]

@lobstermobster

It would be so nice if everyone taught their kids the proper names of body parts. I have no cite for this, but don’t people find it crass and inappropriate for a small child to say “vagina”? (completely ridiculous) I feel like the real names of body parts have become obscene language. What bothers me the most is the cutesy names for going to the restroom. The worst is definitely “making a sissy”. I had NEVER heard this until babysitting two little boys (ages 2 and 3). When I was little I told my parents “I need to use the restroom.” It sounds so much better than being in public and hearing a kid tell his mom or dad that he/she has to poopie.

I remember when I worked for a daycamp one of my campers (4 year old) came to me and told me that something hurt “down there”. I was trying to ascertain exactly what he was referring to and asked him some questions, during which I said the word penis. My supervisor swooped in out of nowhere and lectured me about how I was not supposed to use “words like that” in front of the children. When I asked, I was told the word to use was “wee wee” or possibly “private parts”. :rolleyes:

I also got yelled at for saying pee (I was supposed to say tinkle), toilet (potty), and butt (tooshie). It was really entertaining when I got a camper who would shout, “I gotta go to the can!” whenever he had to, well, go to the can.

[Powers]

@H3Knuckles

well, if you’re going to nitpick, isn’t toilet a euphemism too, technically speaking?

It certainly started out as one, although it’s currently the official word for the fixture. In American English, using it to refer to the room or the act would be uncommon at best.

The Master has, of course, opined on this subject.

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_377.html

@H3Knuckles

As for the singular “they,” I’m pretty sure there’s a Straight Dope column that’ll back me up on this, I just need to go search for it.

I believe you’ll find that it is my interpretation that is backed up by that column. As he wrote:

@Cecil Adams

But some gaps will undoubtedly remain. The remark “A person may find themself left high and dry” would probably pass unnoticed in conversation today, but few would say, “A doctor may find themself …” In such cases even the most ardent feminists fall back on the old standbys: rewrite to eliminate the pronoun, use plurals or second person, and so on.

Powers &8^]