a possibly minority position

[William Ryan]

It doesn't sound at all like Johnson to me. A quick look at Google shows 
attributions to several anons, Max Reger, Winston Churchill, Noel 
Coward, George Bernard Shaw, G. K. Chesterton and Voltaire, none with a 
verifiable reference. One Reger citation does give the recipient and 
date (Rudolph Louis, 1906) - but I would have been more convinced if it 
had been quoted in German. Sounds like one of those general purpose 
witticisms.
Will Ryan


Ajda Kljun wrote:
> Wasn't it the German musician Max Reger who said that? See
> http://books.google.si/books?id=wgoOxgWl6roC&pg=PA744&lpg=PA744&dq=%22smallest+room%22+reger&source=web&ots=wQeFp1K4gT&sig=4ulGjqG_7T2pNAvArXSREZGVsuc&hl=sl#PPA744,M1.
>
>
> Regards, Ajda.
>
> 2008/3/31, Jerry Katsell <jerry3 at roadrunner.com>:
>   
>> Dear John and Ryan and All,
>>
>> It seems that Dr. Samuel Johnson may have something to contribute to
>> toilet references, viz., "the smallest room in the house." As he wrote
>> once upon a time to one of his critics:
>>
>>
>> "I'm reading your letter. I'm sitting in the smallest room in the house.
>> It shall soon be behind me."
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Jerry Katsell
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
>> [mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Meredig, John
>> Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 6:24 AM
>> To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] a possibly minority position
>>
>> All this toilet talk reminds me of all the amusement I caused for my
>> German friends many years ago when I told them: Ich muss ins Klo. The
>> room vs. the fixture can indeed be an important distinction.
>>
>> John Meredig
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
>> [mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of William Ryan
>> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 8:17 PM
>> To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] a possibly minority position
>>
>> In British English the toilet unit itself is called, in a hardware
>> catalogue, a 'toilet pan' (hence the expression 'down the pan' = gone to
>> waste, ruined) or sometimes 'toilet pedestal', or just 'toilet', and
>> this is indeed the Russian 'unitaz' (from the British brand name Unitas,
>> c. 1870 - I have seen several with this trade mark in older Russian
>> houses). But 'toilet' is vague and can also be a room or whole edifice,
>> e.g. a public toilet.
>>
>> British and American euphemisms in this area differ a good deal and can
>> be a source of embarrassing international misunderstanding. I remember,
>> as a young student still unfamiliar with US English, being accosted by
>> an elderly American lady in the Bodleian Library in Oxford who asked me
>> if I could direct her to 'the little girl's room' (I am not sure where
>> the apostrophe goes). I was genuinely puzzled by this and unable to help
>> her.
>>
>> Will Ryan
>>
>>
>> Paul B. Gallagher wrote:
>>     
>>> Alina Israeli wrote:
>>>
>>>       
>>>> Tualet in Russian was borrowed from French and it means 1. a garment,
>>>>         
>>>> usually a fancy ensemble; 2. taking care of one's appearance
>>>> (zanimat'sja svoim tualetom); 3. a table with a mirror; 4. (finally
>>>> the euphemistic) bathroom.
>>>>
>>>> The English toilet would be translated as unitaz.
>>>>         
>>> When we need to disambiguate, an унитаз is called a "commode." This
>>> word can only refer to the fixture, never to the room. "Toilet" is
>>> ambiguous, at least in American English. It can even be a verb (!).
>>>
>>>       
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