a possibly minority position

[Jerry Katsell]

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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