a possibly minority position

[William Ryan]

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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