Not a one of those sites deals with the US. They’re all either in the context of the UK, Australia, or China.
jayjay has the right of it. We’re a big bunch of prudes in the US, and even those of us who aren’t prudes have picked up the social euphemisms. Toilet is simply too direct for polite company, and since the toilet is nearly always located in the same room as other personal amenities, ‘the bathroom’ is perfectly acceptable. Heck, in some places even ‘the bathroom’ is too direct, hence restroom.
Which part? Not doubting you, but I’m genuinely curious. I live in Wisconsin (Madison area), and have never heard anyone refer to the room itself as “the toilet.” I’ve always heard it referred to as either the bathroom or the restroom.
Americans ask "where’s the bathroom/restroom/little girls’/boys’ room etc. because it’s really none of anyone’s business you have to shit so bad you’re touching fabric. Seriously, if you wore your “light day” and today turned into a “turbo-absorbant gusher” tampon day then however logical it may seem, there’s no need to ask a total stanger, “where’s your tampon dumping place?”
Who cares why you want the place? Maybe you just have to blow your nose or wash your hands.
It’s still a “strength” of perfume - you got your eau de parfum, you got your eau de toilette, you got your eau de cologne, etc. Generally the eau de toilette is what you want.
American here, from Louisiana (also have lived in Mississippi). “Bathroom” is near universal. “Restroom” is a bathroom in a public place.
“Toilet” meaning “the actual room with a toilet, sink, tub, shower, etc.”? That usage is all but unknown down here, though it would be easily understood in context.
Were someone to ask me the location of the nearest toilet, I might make the assumption that said person was not a born-and-raised American, but I certainly would not find it rude or crass. “Bathroom”, “restroom”, “men’s/women’s room” would be more standard usage. Of course I grew up on Army bases and recall, when visiting my father’s office, having to seek out the “Men’s Latrine.” A college buddy of mine was similarly a Navy brat, and I never batted an eyelid when he mentioned taking a trip to “the head.”
Now, if a stranger asked directions to “the pisser” or “the shithouse”…well that would be occasion for an askance look.
If it’s of interest, when you’re talking about the room in your house, particularly when it doesn’t have anything to do with elimination (example, “Man, I really need to mop the floor in the _____.” or “We’re putting up new wallpaper in the master ______.”) the word is always “bathroom” in the US.
Those sites happened to have signs. Signs with the word toilet are in use in the USA too. Most text signs are now replaced with icons and gender label.
People should be happy the farmers stopped saying shitter when in a store. As for other words they get used plenty too. It’s just that toilet isn’t a taboo word around this area. We always found it hilarious when the Illinois vacationers used words like doo doo or I have to tinky. A grown women walks up and says I have to tinky or tinkle. Yeesh.
It would be the bathroom in Australia unless it was a room with just a toilet. There doesn’t seem to be a big disconnect between the name of the rooms themselves, I think we’re just a bit more direct about what we’re asking for.
Yes. Having everything except a toilet together in a room would be extremely unusual in the US.
Agreed with the consensus that if I heard someone ask for the toilet I would assume they were not American, but probably wouldn’t be shocked and horrified.
Well, these days in those big-ass new bathrooms sometimes there’s a little sub-room with a toilet in it. But it’s inside the main bathroom. (I assume so you can go pee while your husband is in the shower. My parents’ has an electrical outlet in there - always wondered exactly what you’d plug in in the tiny little toilet room.)
This totally ignores the presence of cocaine residues found in the toilets (the rooms rather than the lavatory bowls) of a significant number of British pubs and bars. Whether there is a similar situation in the US I cannot say but, if there is, I think it is a perfectly reasonable euphemism to ask for the restroom for purposes of this nature.
After all, if it’s a restroom, you can have a nice lie down afterwards.
Speaking as someone who travels fairly often to Australia and the UK and has cousins who are Australian, and other relatives who are/were enrolled in English schools abroad (India, Hong Kong, Singapore), it’s only the Americans who will use restroom and bathroom (which I prefer by the way). To us, toilet largely means we’re about to take the dump to end all mankind, and we rather not let you know about it. Though, with co-workers I’ve traveled with have confessed that they thought it rude to imply what they might otherwise be doing in there (i.e. taking the dump to end all mankind).
Put another way: if I ask politely to use your bathroom or restroom, I might be washing my hands, doing some other bodily function, or straightening my appearance by which I need a mirror. I’d also rather do this – whatever this is – in private.
If I ask for the toilet, I cannot ask that in any other way that I imply that I’m going to do something most foul to it; and, – even with the straightest face – I’ll probably be thinking that as well as trying to perceive if you believe that I will be doing something most foul to said apparatus (i.e. taking the dump to end all mankind).
The usual furnishings in an American house are 1-2 rooms with a full suite of plumbing (bathtub-with-shower, toilet, sink), plus another 1-2 rooms with just the toilet and sink. In real estate contexts (where you’d be describing how many bathrooms a house has), the former are referred to as “bathrooms”, and the latter as “half-baths”. One will occasionally also see a “three-quarters-bath”, which has a toilet, sink, and shower stall (but no tub). I don’t think I’ve ever seen a room in a US house with a bathtub or shower stall which did not also have a toilet.
Agreeing w/ Otter’s experience here. I’ve always, always, always asked for the “restroom”, or, in businesses or homes where there may be a more informal relationship between asker and askee, “bathroom”. (U.S., upper Midwest here) I’ve never used “toilet” to refer to the room; in my opinion the current meaning of that word has evolved enough to be ever-so-slightly less euphemistic, although certainly not horrifying. It just simply seems to be slightly more information than is needed to use the word that ALSO refers to the actual fixture.
Using one of the “-room” words just seems to leave it a little more open to interpretation as to what one may be doing in there (as someone mentioned above, unspecified activities); after all, you may just be washing up your hands before your meal.
I understand in European countries that “toilet” is used with no scruples whatsoever, and it was not a big culture shock or anything. While we may very well be quibbling over some slight nuance between two gigantic cultural groups, the “toilet” usage is most definitely different in the US.
When I visited Spain, I found they used different words in different regions. Granada, Ronda: lavabos. Barcelona, Nerja, Sevilla: servicios.
Nowhere: baños. I could never decide if they were just being snooty because of my Mexican accent or if they really didn’t understand. (I learned to use the proper regionalism but I still slipped up occasionally).
I really don’t think it caused any offense. I just think the person you asked was thinking, “Where’s the toilet? It’s in the bathroom. Next to the sink. Duh!” but was too polite to say it.
