On Thu, 6 Jan 2011 23:31:21 +0000, Tom Anderson
wrote:
On Thu, 6 Jan 2011, Michael R N Dolbear wrote:
wrote
On Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:06:19 +0000, Philip wrote:
I realise that others like to complicate matters more than we do here
in Yorkshire, but let's be clear: It's a bloody toilet.
Yes, i've often heard that said about Yorkshire.
But that word is a euphemism. Who was it who joked about bathing his
brow with toilet water when the seat fell onto his head ?
Why not just say bog ?
/All/ of them are euphemisms, really, and in fact mostly concerned with
/wash/ like the US usage of bathroom as a euphemism that this
subsubthread stated with.
latrine, toilet, can, convenience, head, john, johnny, lavatory, loo,
privy, water closet
****house is perhaps the only term that isn't.
And that's slang.
No more than the others. The established names in the non-English
national languages of the UK all translate as "small house" which IMU
is not translated slang as the equivalents to "house" are not
restricted to describing habitations.
Is there really no proper word for it that isn't a euphemism?
"Sh1tter" isn't a euphemism but probably won't impress the
wife/boss/minister. Urinal is not euphemistic but does not answer the
entire question; I formally stake a copyright claim on the creation of
the "faectory". As for "privy", that is arguably not euphemistic (and
has well established formal use in previous times) as it derives from
the non-public nature of its use rather than from what takes place.