In the listening lesson “The Bathroom!”, I talked about renovating the bathroom in my parent’s house.
In North America (Canada and the US) it is impolite to use the word toilet. You can call the actual physical thing a toilet, but if you want to say that you need to use the toilet, you must say something else.
We have all sorts of other polite names for it! You can start by saying:
Where is the _________ ?
I need to use the _________.
I have to go to the __________.
Then, you can choose one of the following words:
bathroom
restroom
washroom
ladies’ room / men’s room
In a public place (restaurant, theatre, hotel) the ladies’ room is often called the ‘powder room.’ In a house, a small bathroom with only a toilet and a sink (without a bath/shower) is also called the ‘powder room.’
In very informal conversation amongst friends, if you’d like to be cute or funny you can say:
(little) girl’s room
(little) boy’s room!
IMPORTANT: You may have learned some other slang words for the toilet, but you must remember that those words are slang and should NOT be used in public or in a professional environment (such as your work), especially with people you don’t know.
Melanie is a TESL-certified English teacher. She lives near Toronto, Canada. Through her blog, videos, podcasts, and social media, she helps thousands of people around the world improve their English. She makes English a little less confusing and a little more fun! She also helps people understand Canadian and American culture. She believes that natural interaction with a native speaker helps people practice what they have learned and builds their confidence with English!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I always say restroom.
It's a strange word, isn't it? It's not a room you do much resting in! = )
thanks a lot for this explanation, always had problems with it, but in restaurants, I always asked the way to the ladies' room…by intuition I suppose..
Good for you Lelik! Even though I know it's OK to say 'toilet' in other countries, I still get embarrassed saying it = )
but I still don't understand why it is so embarrassing??? in Russian(I'm russian) we ask "Where's the toilet?", but in russian TOILET – means the room itself, for the object "toilet bowl" we have another word.
I don't know why it's embarrassing either! It's just considered rude and impolite to use 'toilet' – I have no idea why!
I’m Egyptian and usually say i want to go to the toilet but because it is more understandable in Egypt or i can say it in Arabic easier
)
Hi, Hanan!
In a lot of languages it is common to say “I want to go to the toilet.” However, remember NOT to say this in English!
= )