TOILET / UNITAZ

[Emily Saunders]

According to the American English I grew up with:

At someone's home you would ask to use the bathroom or toilet with the  
former being slightly more polite.  You could also ask to use "the  
little girls' room" but this sounds joking.

Out in public you would use the restroom, bathroom, ladies' room,  
mens' room, or "facilities."

Washroom is rare, but some do use it -- could possibly be regional or  
generational.

Slangily speaking one can also "hit the head" - a naval term that I  
believe is shared in both the U.S. and U.K.

Definite non-American English would be W.C., water closet, and  
lavatory (though on airplanes the toilet is commonly referred to as  
the lavatory - why the distinction, I'm not sure).

And I think it is definitely worth footnoting that whereas toilet does  
double-duty in English, there are two words in Russian denoting the  
room and the device.  I found out the difference only after about 5  
years worth of Russian and felt duly embarrassed given the nature of  
the error that elicited the correction.

Regards,

Emily Saunders

On Aug 26, 2008, at 5:12 PM, Charlotte Rosenthal wrote:

> Dear John,
>
> We actually say "bathroom" because in the US the toilet is usually  
> located in the same room as the sink, shower, etc.
> We also do say "restroom."  We also say "ladies' room" and "men's  
> room" because in public places most often there are two rooms, one  
> for women, one for men.
> Charlotte
>
> Charlotte Rosenthal, Ph. D.
> Associate Professor of Russian
> Dept. of Modern & Classical Langs. and Lits University of Southern  
> Maine
> Portland, ME 04104-9300 U.S.A.
>
> crosenth at usm.maine.edu
>>>>

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