# Why is it called a restroom, anyway? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [October 19, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381 "2009-10-19T19:42:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JakeRobb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d78d45/32.png) [@JakeRobb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JakeRobb)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/1 "2009-10-19T19:42:47Z")
Original Report: [Why is it called a restroom, anyway? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2870/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway) I just wanted to say that I’m really disappointed that this article didn’t fit in a reference to “calling Ralph on the big white phone.” ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/2 "2009-10-19T21:16:08Z")
Yeah, sorry that I couldn’t cover all the euphemisms – there are zillions of 'em. I’d never encountered “calling Ralph” so I din’t include it. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/3 "2009-10-19T21:23:21Z")
Probably the commonest American euphemism is the “bathroom”. It has developed to the extent that, in a house, the definition of a “half bathroom” is that it doesn’t contain anywhere that you can actually bathe – it only has a toilet and wash basin. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/4 "2009-10-19T21:29:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Gentlemen! Rest your sphincters! ~~_Blazing Saddles_ ---
**Author:** ![Jerseyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Jerseyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerseyman)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/5 "2009-10-20T05:20:33Z")
This American habit of calling the lavatory a bathroom really annoys me because very often they are separate places and a lot of modern flats don’t have a room with a bath at all, they have a lavatory with a shower. If I see ‘bathroom’, I expect a room with a bath, whatever else is in there or nothing at all. I hope a flat has a toilet whether it has a bathroom or not! ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/6 "2009-10-20T08:24:45Z")
> [@JakeRobb](#): > > I just wanted to say that I’m really disappointed that this article didn’t fit in a reference to “calling Ralph on the big white phone.” Honestly, why should it? “Calling Ralph etc.” is not the intended use of the thing. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/7 "2009-10-20T11:21:19Z")
> [@Jerseyman](#): > > If I see ‘bathroom’, I expect a room with a bath, whatever else is in there or nothing at all. What do you expect when you see “restroom”? :dubious:😛 ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/8 "2009-10-20T11:26:47Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > What do you expect when you see “restroom”? :dubious:😛 I think a bed or a cot would be appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/9 "2009-10-20T12:25:20Z")
> [@Jerseyman](#): > > This American habit of calling the lavatory a bathroom really annoys me because very often they are separate places and a lot of modern flats don’t have a room with a bath at all, they have a lavatory with a shower. If I see ‘bathroom’, I expect a room with a bath, whatever else is in there or nothing at all. I hope a flat has a toilet whether it has a bathroom or not! Yes, terrible thing, those Americans, calling a lavatory a bathroom. Oh, remind me: what does the word “lavatory” mean, again? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/10 "2009-10-20T13:05:46Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Oh, remind me: what does the word “lavatory” mean, again? Yes, that’s a euphemism that’s so old that the word has lost its original meaning, and only has the nonliteral meaning. So, back to you: how would you refer to a room containing a bath? Because the American usage is very odd: you can say things like, “That house has two bathrooms but does not have a bath.” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/11 "2009-10-20T14:30:15Z")
I no longer powder my wig in my powder room, what should I call it instead? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/12 "2009-10-20T18:07:36Z")
☹ > [@Giles](#): > > So, back to you: how would you refer to a room containing a bath? Because the American usage is very odd: you can say things like, “That house has two bathrooms but does not have a bath.” That’s quite unusual, though, and even then only because people’s bathing habits have changed a lot in the last few decades. nearly all showers are dual-use bathtubs. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/13 "2009-10-20T20:44:30Z")
If I wished to distinguish a “bath” from a “shower”, I would specify a _tub_. “That house has two bath_rooms_, but no bath_tub_.” My house growing up had 3 bathrooms, but only 1 tub. The other two had showers. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/14 "2009-10-21T02:17:59Z")
A full bathroom does indeed have a bathtub (along with a sink & toilet). A room with only a toilet, sink, & shower is properly called a 3/4 bath. A 1/2 only has a sink & toilet and a 1/4 bath only has a toilet (which is rare, but not unheard of in the US). ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/15 "2009-10-21T02:24:33Z")
is the title of an E.B. White piece that appeared in _The New Yorker_ on December 15, 1928. It recounts White’s visit to a dentist and his internal dialogue during the long recovery period needed to come out of the heavy anesthesia used at that time. Anyway, the patients were put in small rooms with cots to sleep off the drugs. These were called “Rest Rooms.” I don’t know any more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/16 "2009-10-21T02:34:35Z")
Since we’re on the subject, we always know we’re back in the U.S.A. when we start seeing signs for “restrooms.” They’re usually called bathrooms or washrooms here. Just F.Y.I. since we’re all about fighting the ignorance and all. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/17 "2009-10-21T02:59:21Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > is the title of an E.B. White piece that appeared in _The New Yorker_ on December 15, 1928. It recounts White’s visit to a dentist and his internal dialogue during the long recovery period needed to come out of the heavy anesthesia used at that time. > > Anyway, the patients were put in small rooms with cots to sleep off the drugs. These were called “Rest Rooms.” > > I don’t know any more than that. Still true, for serious dental surgery. I’ve sat a couple of times with my wife, who wakes up, is surprised that the surgery is over, goes back to sleep, wakes up, is surprised that the surgery is over… lather, rinse, repeat… ---
**Author:** ![jock123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jock123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jock123)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/18 "2009-10-21T17:46:11Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > A full bathroom does indeed have a bathtub (along with a sink & toilet). A room with only a toilet, sink, & shower is properly called a 3/4 bath. A 1/2 only has a sink & toilet and a 1/4 bath only has a toilet (which is rare, but not unheard of in the US). Why not just concede at this stage that bathing is unlikely to happen in either of these, and that they are toilets, not bathrooms? In this system, even reception rooms and kitchens in your house could be a “0 bath” bathroom… ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/19 "2009-10-21T20:16:51Z")
Because the “toilet” is the thing in which you leave your wastes, not the room in which that occurs. The room is a “bathroom” in a private residence and a “rest room” in a public facility. Why? Because that’s the way it is. ## Might as well argue over why we drive on a “parkway” and park on a “driveway”.\* By the way, the partial bath numbers arose as real estate shorthand to convey the facilities quickly. Makes short entries in, say, newspaper real estate listings, that you pay for by the letter. - Which we’ve done. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381/20 "2009-10-22T10:31:51Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Because the “toilet” is the thing in which you leave your wastes, not the room in which that occurs. That’s true for the USA, but not in other parts of the World. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-a-restroom-anyway/514381.md?page=2)