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Modern words, I must be getting old.

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Re: Modern words, I must be getting old.

Postby John Brown » 14 Jun 2021, 21:35

I was brought up to say lavatory as well. Maybe it's a Kent thing.
Actually, I believe it's a U as opposed to non-U thing, and my upbringers went for that stuff.
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Re: Modern words, I must be getting old.

Postby Phil Pascoe » 15 Jun 2021, 06:30

It's the bog. :lol:
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Re: Modern words, I must be getting old.

Postby Andy Kev. » 15 Jun 2021, 06:40

If you’re a speaker of British English, the use of “bathroom” for “lavatory, toilet, bog” etc. is IMO culturally and linguistically indefensible.

First the cultural aspect: Americans are notoriously prudish about bodily functions and so they had a cultural stimulus to adopt a euphemism. The culturally weaker on this side of the Atlantic adopted it probably because of the Hollywood influence or because of a shared prudery (the British lower middle class is a common source of all that is ludicrous in UK culture). The worst such Americanism of which I have heard is “comfort station”. I think if anybody asks you the way and uses such a ridiculous euphemism, the best response is something along the lines of, “Dunno about that but if you want a p!!s, the bog is over there”.

And I surely don’t have to explain the linguistic aspect.
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Re: Modern words, I must be getting old.

Postby Woodbloke » 15 Jun 2021, 07:26

Andy Kev. wrote:If you’re a speaker of British English, the use of “bathroom” for “lavatory, toilet, bog” etc. is IMO culturally and linguistically indefensible.

First the cultural aspect: Americans are notoriously prudish about bodily functions and so they had a cultural stimulus to adopt a euphemism. The culturally weaker on this side of the Atlantic adopted it probably because of the Hollywood influence or because of a shared prudery (the British lower middle class is a common source of all that is ludicrous in UK culture). The worst such Americanism of which I have heard is “comfort station”. I think if anybody asks you the way and uses such a ridiculous euphemism, the best response is something along the lines of, “Dunno about that but if you want a p!!s, the bog is over there”.



IMO, I reckon we should adopt the Tudor expression, which is what Henry VIII called his khazi...’the House of Easement’ :D - Rob
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Re: Modern words, I must be getting old.

Postby Andyp » 15 Jun 2021, 07:39

Following on from my earlier protestations about how the french language is far less open to the influx of new or foreign words I was prompted by an earlier post about the term W.C.
W.C. Is a term used widely here both to indicate public conveniences and to describe the physical toilet (bowl and cistern combination). So I looked it up in a french dictionary:-

Langue française > dictionnaire > W.C.
nom masculin

(abréviation de water-closet)


Water and Closet do not exist as words in the french language but the term W.C. has been accepted. Bizarre.

I can see why etymology is such a fascination subject to those who study it.
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Re: Modern words, I must be getting old.

Postby Lurker » 15 Jun 2021, 07:49

fiveeyes wrote:
Lurker wrote:Gentlemen, I give you the very worst recent American import

Bathroom

This statement is daft.
Would you put the 'bath',in the kitchen?


As everybody else realised , I was referring to the word bathroom instead of bog.
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Re: Modern words, I must be getting old.

Postby SamQ aka Ah! Q! » 15 Jun 2021, 08:23

On a point of order, "M'khasi" is Swahili for latrine, but in the Near East, it ranges from 'goat meat' to...'castrated' or 'emasculated'...the Aussies go to the 'Kassi'...I wonder what for?
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Re: Modern words, I must be getting old.

Postby Andyp » 15 Jun 2021, 08:33

Woodbloke wrote:
Andy Kev. wrote:If you’re a speaker of British English, the use of “bathroom” for “lavatory, toilet, bog” etc. is IMO culturally and linguistically indefensible.

First the cultural aspect: Americans are notoriously prudish about bodily functions and so they had a cultural stimulus to adopt a euphemism. The culturally weaker on this side of the Atlantic adopted it probably because of the Hollywood influence or because of a shared prudery (the British lower middle class is a common source of all that is ludicrous in UK culture). The worst such Americanism of which I have heard is “comfort station”. I think if anybody asks you the way and uses such a ridiculous euphemism, the best response is something along the lines of, “Dunno about that but if you want a p!!s, the bog is over there”.



IMO, I reckon we should adopt the Tudor expression, which is what Henry VIII called his khazi...’the House of Easement’ :D - Rob


So long as as we do not have to adopt his Groom of the Stool. :)
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