# When did toilet paper stop being called that? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559 "2023-09-03T22:02:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/41 "2023-09-04T14:40:39Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Those are all slangy. The “proper” name for the fixture is the toilet. I honestly can’t think of any other “official” word for it. Commode. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The word “toilet” is used differently in the US and the UK. In the US it refers to the fixture that you poop into. In the UK it’s used to refer to the whole room. As other people have pointed out in this thread, in the UK/Australia, it can refer to either one. So I still think my thesis that the word is more along the way towards being a tabu word in the US is correct. I’m not sure there was ever an original tabu word that that all these euphemisms are substituting for. Or another way to put it, it’s euphemisms all the way down. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/42 "2023-09-04T14:44:48Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > As other people have pointed out in this thread, in the UK/Australia, it can refer to either one. So I still think my thesis that the word is more along the way towards being a tabu word in the US is correct. I don’t really think it is particularly taboo in the US. I think it appears that way to Brits (et al) because they use the word to refer to the room and we don’t—see the thread I linked to. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/43 "2023-09-04T14:58:57Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t really think it is particularly taboo in the US. I think it appears that way to Brits (et al) because they use the word to refer to the room and we don’t—see the thread I linked to. That’s mostly why it’s becoming tabu, because it only refers to the porcelain thing in the US. But note I say it’s only moving towards being tabu; it hasn’t quite reached that point yet. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/44 "2023-09-04T15:14:30Z")
“Where’s the little girl’s/little boy’s room?” 🙄 “Where’s the shitter/crapper?” 😬 “Are you going to the toilet?” - Ms Blankenship, loudly, on Mad Men. 😅 ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/45 "2023-09-04T15:14:32Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Face it, toilet is not a word with pretty connotations, though better than if you sold Ultra Comfort Ass Wipe. Depends where you are. While in New Zealand I was surprised by the number of public restrooms and they were easy to find. Just look for the signs that say “Toilet” with an arrow pointing in the correct direction. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/46 "2023-09-04T15:15:23Z")
I imagine many Americans would say there’s something “dirty” about the _sound_ of the word “toilet,” with its echoes of “soil” and “oil” (and even “bemoil”). Though that’s probably post-hoc rationalizing… ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/47 "2023-09-04T15:27:47Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I’m not sure there was ever an original tabu word that that all these euphemisms are substituting for. Or another way to put it, it’s euphemisms all the way down. Yep. In my limited research, I haven’t found what the original term for “place to defecate” is. Best guess is “shithole”. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/48 "2023-09-04T17:52:50Z")
I once wrote a futuristic story in which they used the word “excretorium” for the bathroom. Ursula K. Leguin in her novel _The Dispossessed_ frankly called the toilet fixture a “shitstool”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/49 "2023-09-04T18:49:12Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > For as long as I can remember, “bathroom tissue” has been the “polite” name for the product, used on packaging, while “toilet paper” has been the _real_ name that real people use. Yep. Toilet paper is what people call it. Bathroom tissue is something some store use. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/50 "2023-09-04T19:54:59Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > In my limited research, I haven’t found what the original term for “place to defecate” is. In Elizabethan times, “jakes” was the slang term, but monarchs had a “Groom of the Stool” to, erm, attend them. At some point “closet” came in, and later “WC”. If memory serves, even Chaucer used a euphemism, something like ‘that place to which we all go’. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/51 "2023-09-04T19:58:50Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > In Elizabethan times, “jakes” was the slang term, but monarchs had a “Groom of the Stool” to, erm, attend them. At some point “closet” came in, and later “WC”. Actually “Jakes”, from “Jack’s”, is only half a step removed from our present-day “John”. The Toilet was a place every “John” or “Jack” eventually had to go. The Elizabethans, being bawdy Elizabethans, couldn’t help making punning jokes about it. The classical hero Ajax from the Trojan War found himself involved in these as “A-Jax” = “A Jakes” = “A Toilet” ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/52 "2023-09-04T20:10:55Z")
Euphemisms (which clearly go back to ancient times and before) aside, “shitter” has already been mentioned. The OED has a quote from 1386 mentioning a “schetyngpanne”. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > The Elizabethans, being bawdy Elizabethans, couldn’t help making punning jokes about it. The classical hero Ajax from the Trojan War found himself involved in these as “A-Jax” = “A Jakes” = “A Toilet” Jaques, aka Master What-ye-call’t, is the guy from _As You Like It…_ ---
**Author:** ![cincinnatus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cincinnatus/32/7990_2.png) [@cincinnatus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cincinnatus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/53 "2023-09-07T02:43:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I once wrote a futuristic story in which they used the word “excretorium” for the bathroom. I’ve referred to it as defecatorium . ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/54 "2023-09-07T09:40:18Z")
There is “cacatorium”, found in some slang dictionaries, though I can’t recall ever hearing anyone saying it. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/55 "2023-09-07T11:11:52Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > > [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > > > It refers to either here in Australia > > Same in the UK. The toilet (the object we defecate into) can be found in the toilet (the room). This doesn’t seem to cause much confusion. > > And for the record, we call it “toilet paper”. Or, like @GuanoLad, “bog roll” if we’re amongst friends On _Taskmaster_, Greg and Little Alex Horne always refer to it as “loo roll”. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/56 "2023-09-07T11:40:54Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > I got one case of the in-store brand’s (Kirkland Signature) “bath tissue”. That’s a ridiculous name. I feel like taking a shower, using several rolls in an attempt to dry off, and then posting a picture with wet tissue stuck all over me and several empty rolls in the background with, of course, a scathing post criticizing their crappy “bath tissue”. 😈 ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/57 "2023-09-07T11:45:59Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > > [@DKW](#): > > > > I got one case of the in-store brand’s (Kirkland Signature) “bath tissue”. > > That’s a ridiculous name. I feel like taking a shower, using several rolls in an attempt to dry off, and then posting a picture with wet tissue stuck all over me and several empty rolls in the background with, of course, a scathing post criticizing their crappy “bath tissue”. 😈   Obvious misuse of the product. It’s not _shower_ tissue, it’s _bath_ tissue. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/58 "2023-09-07T11:46:58Z")
How silly of me! Now, I have to wash all this crap off and try again. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/59 "2023-09-10T21:21:24Z")
Yet, there is toilet water refresh yourself. But don’t you dare call that roll toilet paper … ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559/60 "2023-09-10T23:23:45Z")
Seriously, if anyone would print that I’d buy a roll or two. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-toilet-paper-stop-being-called-that/989559.md?page=4)