Restroom
This is the first in a series of commentaries comparing British and American usage
Restroom, most commonly
used in the United States, is a synonym for lavatory. It is a euphemism,
because it eschews any mention of bodily toilet activities performed there. No
word exists, to my knowledge, that makes specific reference to the principal
function of this room. Lavatory, meaning a place where one washes (as
well as the apparatus itself) from the latin lavāre, is itself a euphemism, as is W.C., which is short for water closet. Both of these terms are
more prevalent in Britain than the American term restroom, although lavatory is the
commonly-used word on signage or in announcements by flight attendants, even on
American airplanes.
Bathroom is another word used in the U.S. to mean a restroom, toilet, lavatory,
or W.C. Other synonyms in American English, although far less frequently used,
include lav, john, loo, and can. Powder room, is another such euphemism, suggesting a room to which
ladies retreat to powder their noses.
The common denominator of all these low-key words is that they suggest
only the bodily cleaning-up activities performed after the toilet has been used
for its primary purpose. The English word toilet is derived from the
French toilette. Originally, the French word meant “a cloth on which
items used for grooming are placed,” vaguely similar to the present-day
(British) English toilet or toilet-bag—“a waterproof travel bag
for holding toiletries (soap, toothpaste, etc.).” Later, the French cabinet
de toilette came to mean the room in which one washed, from whence its
present-day meaning of a W.C., or restroom.
The following is an excerpt from The Rape of the Lock, by the English
poet, Alexander Pope:
“And now, unveil'd, the toilet stands display'd
Each silver vase in mystic order laid."
British English has adopted the word toilet to mean also the act
of dressing and preparing oneself, as in “he made his morning toilet and went
to breakfast.”
“Sanisette”,
originally launched in France, is the name of a
self-contained, chemical, public toilet. This kind of toilet is commonly seen
in major cities of the world, particularly Paris. In the United Kingdom, they are sometimes called "Superloos”.
Finally, it
should be noted that Spanish displays the same modesty in the expression cuarto de baño, literally
bathroom (or simply baño). In some Spanish-speaking countries, the term W.C.
is adopted as is from the English, although pronounced differently. But
Spanish has three other words used to indicate public toilets. One is servicios,
meaning services, obviously a euphemism. Another is aseos, which without
the ‘s’ has a variety of meanings in Spanish, including cleanliness. The
third is lavabo, from the word lavar, which, as already mentioned,
means to wash.
Jonathan Goldberg
The above piece is based on an article
that I originally wrote for
California Translators Association.