# "To go potty" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2006, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843 "2006-06-23T08:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/21 "2006-06-23T18:46:51Z")
I stopped saying it when I grew up, but now I work in an all-female office, and find it funny that it’s used commonly around here; I hear it so much I end up saying it myself (we are a small office - it’s necessary to alert someone if you will be absent & unable to answer the phone). In our usage, it means “I will be in the restroom (unspoken: to relieve my bowels/bladder).” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/22 "2006-06-23T20:04:21Z")
Sometimes when it’s just gals within earshot, and the gal is grabbing her purse anyway, she will make some reference to taking care of her monthly business. TMI I say, T.M.I. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/23 "2006-06-23T20:28:50Z")
My wife and I use this expression quite a lot actually. It could have something to do with the fact that we have five grandchildren. To us, it means simply “I’m gonna be in that little room over there”. If we feel the need to be more specific, usually to indicate expected duration of said tenancy, we might say “I’m gonna go pee” or “I’ve gotta give birth to a Congressman.” ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/24 "2006-06-24T08:14:34Z")
In my mind it’s a general term meaning that one has to visit the necessary. I think it’s a particularly silly expression, but one that is socially acceptable where many other synonyms that are equally silly and accurate would be confusing, or offensive. I’ll also hit the head, void, use the necessary, and go to the bathroom. Once the bathroom door closes, it’s no one else’s business but mine what I do in there. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/25 "2006-06-24T12:10:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, yeah, yeah. What did it mean to you when you were a kid, then. I’m just trying to figure out how this word is normally used with children or whoever. Zheesh, is it that hard to get a straight answer round here? I don’t think I ever actually used the term - my parents (the damn hippies, I guess) taught me and my sister to speak properly fairly early. But when it was used at that age it meant a general “I’m going to go relieve myself in some manner.” Nothing specific about it. And can I just say I truly am amazed that adults use this phrase with one another? It’s not cute or anything, and really, it’s no more subtle than saying “I need to use the toilet.” All it does, IMO, is make you sound like an idiot, or one of those batty old women who speak to all 30 of their cats as if cute widdle shnookums was an infant. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/26 "2006-06-24T12:22:39Z")
I once adopted an older dog that had been trained not to defecate until commanded to “go potty.” So I was forced to use this expression, sometimes in public, though I’ve never had children. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/27 "2006-06-24T14:15:58Z")
All such expressions mean “urinate or defecate.” In fact, it’s to the point where you can go, “Ew! The cat went to the bathroom on the rug!” ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/28 "2006-06-24T14:25:17Z")
HIJACK: Let’s play identify the quote! > [@](#): > > Okay, I’m sorry. I’ve had it. Look. I am not your mommy, and I’m not your doctor. So there is no frickin’ way that I’m gonna go in the bathroom with you and hold your hand while you potty… So, look, after you answer nature’s call in that toxic waste dump of a restroom, you have the choice of either a) rejoining us here at the table with a different attitude for a nice, delicious meal, or b) you can hoof it to the Mexican border. It’s about 150 miles thataway. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/29 "2006-06-24T14:41:41Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > In that case I would say “I gotta pee” or in more urgent cases “I gotta pee like a racehorse.” To me, the expression “pee like a racehorse” is always a temptation to ask: “Standing up?” To me, “going potty” is any use of the bathroom facilities. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/30 "2006-06-24T16:57:50Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > To me, it means you are, or are being raised by, a not-terribly-bright whitebread stay-at-home mom with plebian tastes and values, who wasn’t really sure she wanted children but couldn’t figure out what else to do. 😕 Explanation, please? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/31 "2006-06-24T17:00:37Z")
Given that the “pot” is the toilet bowl, to me the expression “go potty” means to use the toilet bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/32 "2006-06-25T00:41:18Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > In that case I would say “I gotta pee” or in more urgent cases “I gotta pee like a racehorse.” I’m still trying to figure out the female equivalent of “draining the weasel”. Well, since the female urethra ( with VERY few exceptions ) is internally located but serves the same purpose as the male penile-centric urethra ( band name !! ), I might suggest these colloquiolisms: 1. Open the Golden Gates. 2. Drain the Viaduct. 3. Go Work The Kegels. 4. Piss like a racehorse ( female horses piss too. 😉 ) 5. Drip the light fantastic. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/33 "2006-06-25T04:25:43Z")
Nah, here it just means “to go mad”. Means the Animaniacs 'toon about “going potty” has added dimensions. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sparrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sparrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparrow)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/34 "2006-06-25T12:28:18Z")
In the UK it only means " to go crazy"; although the word is used for a baby’s pot, it’s not used as a verb. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843/35 "2006-06-25T16:59:57Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > I don’t think I ever actually used the term - my parents (the damn hippies, I guess) taught me and my sister to speak properly fairly early. But when it was used at that age it meant a general “I’m going to go relieve myself in some manner.” Nothing specific about it. > > And can I just say I truly am amazed that adults use this phrase with one another? It’s not cute or anything, and really, it’s no more subtle than saying “I need to use the toilet.” All it does, IMO, is make you sound like an idiot, or one of those batty old women who speak to all 30 of their cats as if cute widdle shnookums was an infant. :rolleyes: I’m very happy that you were taught to speak properly and never deigned yourself to use harmless little phrases like “go potty” and can now look down upon anyone who has ever used it or (heaven forfend!) continues to use it as a silly little euphemism. I’m also very happy that you can feel assured of your higher intelligence and awesomeness because you can look down upon those idiots who use phrases you never did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-go-potty/361843.md?page=1)