Hello, my name is Emma, and today I am going to answer a very important question.
My student Ahmed asked me the other day, "Emma, what do you call the room with the toilet
in it?"
This is a great question, and the answer is actually quite complicated in English.
So let's look at some examples of what you might have heard in the past.
You might hear somebody say, "Where is the toilet?"
You might hear, "Where is the bathroom?
Where is the washroom?
Where is the WC?"
Which one is correct?
Well, the answer depends on what country you are in.
So let's look at these words and some more words we use when we are talking about the
room with the toilet in it.
Okay, so let's start with the most obvious word, which is "toilet" or "toilets" with
an "s".
In England, in Australia, in Ireland, in Scotland, these countries often use the word "toilet"
to talk about the room where there is a toilet.
So you can say, "I went to the toilet."
Or "Where is the toilet?"
And this is quite popular.
In America and in Canada, it's not so common to use the word "toilet".
In general, we prefer words like "bathroom" or "restroom", which we will see in a moment.
So "toilet" or "toilets" tends to be a very British or Australian way to talk about the
room with the toilet in it.
"Bathroom" is what we usually use in North America.
So I will say, "Oh, I need to go to the bathroom.
Where is the bathroom?"
Now, this is not common in England or in Australia or in other English-speaking countries.
Sometimes they laugh at North Americans for using the word "bathroom".
It sounds very strange because there's no bathtub in these rooms, so why do you call
it a "bathroom"?
You might have a bathtub, but it's not necessary, especially with public rooms where it's only
toilets and sinks.
So the word "bathroom" is common in North America, but it is not common in the UK or
in Australia.
Now, another word you might hear in North America is the word "restroom".
Again, this is another word where British people might laugh at because they might say,
"Well, what are you doing in that room?
Are you resting?
I thought you were using the toilet."
Whereas in North America, we often use the word "restroom".
A "restroom" is a public room with toilets in it.
So far, "toilet" tends to be British or Australian, whereas "bathroom" and "restroom" tend to
be North American words.
Now, the next word I'm going to look at is the word "washroom".
"Washroom" is a Canadian word, primarily.
So when I go to the United States and I say, "Where's the washroom?", everyone looks at
me like I'm crazy.
But in Canada, we use "washroom" even more than we use the word "bathroom".
You can use "bathroom" or "washroom".
So this tends to be more of a Canadian word, and you will not hear this word in England
or in Australia.
Again, it's primarily a Canadian word.
It's interesting because sometimes you might not know where a person is from.
You might think, "Is that a Canadian?
Is that an American or somebody from England?"
Well, listen to what they call the toilet room, and you can often tell where a person
is from.
That can give you a hint.
Let's look at some more words we use when we're talking about the room with a toilet
in it.
Okay.
Well, so what's the next words we can use to talk about the room with the toilets in
it?
Well, in North America, we often use the word "the men's room" for a public room with toilets
for men, and by "public", I mean it's not your house or it's not your friend's home.
We can use the men's room for, like, a restaurant or, you know, at the shopping mall.
So we use the men's room for a building that's not your home, it's not somebody's house,
but it has toilets for men in it.
We can also use the ladies' room for the room that has toilets for women.
Now, notice I use the word "ladies".
So this is a little bit strange if you think about it, because why don't we say "women"?
We say "the men's room", why not "the women's room"?
I don't know the answer, but I know that if you say "the women's room", it sounds very
strange in English.
So use...
You can use "the ladies' room" or "the men's room".
Again, these are very common in North America.
In England, or in the UK, you might also hear people say "the gents".
"Gent" stands for "gentleman", so if you hear somebody say, "Oh, where is the gents?"
that means where is the men's room.
All right, the next example is the word "loo", "the loo".
So you might hear somebody say, "Where's the loo?" or "I'm going to the loo."
Again, the "loo" is the room with the toilet in it.
Now who uses this word?
It's not common in North America.
You might hear it in the UK, but the people who usually use this word are people from
the older generation.
So if somebody is maybe 60, 70, 80, they are more likely to use the word "loo" than somebody
who is 20 years old, for example.
Again, it's not really popular in Canada or in the US.
So what about old-fashioned words?
We actually have a lot of words in English to talk about the room with the toilet in
it.
You might have heard the word "lavatory" or "lav" for short.
You might hear this in the UK, you might see it on a sign, for example, you might even
see it on an airplane, "Where's the lavatory?" instead of "Where's the bathroom?"
In general, in conversation, these words tend to be old-fashioned.
Old-fashioned means that we used to use them, but we don't use them that much anymore.
So I should say these are old-fashioned in North America and in the UK.
In other English-speaking countries, you might actually hear these words, but in North America
and the UK, they tend to be old-fashioned.
It's the same with the word "wc".
When I lived in China, I noticed the word "wc" was on many signs, and I actually didn't
know what it meant at first because we never use it in Canada.
But in many countries, you will see the sign "wc".
It stands for "water closet", which is an old-fashioned word, but in some countries,
you will still see the sign "wc" or people will refer to the bathroom as "wc".
This is not common in North America.
And then finally, the "latrine" is another word that you might see.
I actually have almost never used this word.
We use this word to talk about where people, like soldiers, might go to the bathroom or
where animals might go to the bathroom.
You might see it in other contexts, too, but again, it's a very uncommon word when discussing
the room with the toilets.
So, the main point today is I would recommend if you are in the UK or Australia, use the
word "toilet".
Where is the toilet?
I'm going to the toilet.
If you're in North America, I'd recommend using the word "bathroom".
Where is the bathroom?
I think this is the easiest way to think about it, and you can use these other words as well,
but "toilet" for the UK/Australia, "bathroom" for North America, if you use these words,
you'll be fine.
So, thank you for watching.
You can practice what you learned today by taking our quiz at www.engvid.com, and I also
recommend that you subscribe to my YouTube channel for more videos on all sorts of different
topics.
Thank you so much for watching, and until next time, take care.