The connection thus made between toilets and Dirt, or distasteful items, has led to them being also used to dispose of wedding rings, letters or critical reviews with which one disagrees (cf. Goethe's example). In this case the use is partly (and in many cultures very strongly) symbolic, as in most human cultures the places used to dispose of feces and urine have some connotation related to dirtiness or rejection.
The word toilet can be used to refer to the fixture itself or the room containing it; the latter predominates mainly in British and Commonwealth usage.
Through the 18th century, everywhere in the English-speaking world, a toilet remained a lady's draped dressing-table. The word was adapted as a genteel euphemism for water-closet, perhaps following the French usage cabinet de toilette, much as powder-room may be coyly used today, and this has been linked to the introduction of public toilets, for example on railway trains, which required a plaque on the door. The original usage has become indelicate and largely replaced by dressing-table.
Vestiges of the original meaning continue to be reflected in terms such as toiletries and eau de toilette. This seemingly contradictory terminology has served as the basis for various parodies ranging from Jeff Foxworthy's routine ("If you think that "toilet water" is in fact toilet water, you just might be a redneck!") to Cosmopolitan magazine ("If it doesn't say 'eau de toilette' on the label, it most likely doesn't come from the famed region of Eau de Toilette en France and might not even come from toilets at all.")
The word toilet itself may be considered an impolite word in the United States, whilst elsewhere the word is used without any embarrassment. When referring to the room or the actual piece of equipment, the word toilet is often substituted with other euphemisms (and dysphemisms) such as:
| bathroom bog can cloakroom comfort room commode convenience crapper dump tank dunny facility or facilities fountain gentlemen's gentlemen's club gents guest room (which also means "guest bedroom") | the head or heads (originally from naval usage) khazi jardine john ladies ladies'/ men's room ladies'/ men's lounge latrine lavatory little boys'/girls' room long drop library loo men's necessary outhouse place of easement | poop-house pot powder room privy reading room restroom shit-house shitter smallest room stables throne thunder box washroom water chamber water closet WC |
As old euphemisms have become accepted, they have been progressively replaced by newer ones, an example of the euphemism treadmill at work.
A much more plausible theory comes from nautical terminology; loo being an old fashioned word for lee. Early ships were not fitted with toilets but the crew would urinate over the side of the vessel. However it was important to use the leeward side. Using the windward side would result in the urine blown back on board. Even on modern yachts, most (male) yachtsmen, whilst at sea, find it more convenient to go to the loo, than to use the heads.Types of toilets
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There are many different types of toilets around the world. There are also many different ways to clean yourself after you are finished using the toilet. A lot depends on national Mores and local resources. The most common choice in the Western world is Toilet paper, sometimes used in conjunction with the Bidet; see Toilet paper for a discussion of the many alternatives used through history and in different cultures. In most of Asia the custom is to use water rather than paper, traditionally the left hand is used for this for which reason that hand is considered impolite or polluted in many eastern countries.
Some toilet areas are specially adapted for people with disabilities. These are wide enough to allow the entry by a person in a Wheelchair and often feature hand-holds bolted to the wall, enabling the person to maneuver onto the toilet if necessary.
The most common type of toilet in the West is the Flush toilet, although the Squat toilet is still somewhat common in public restrooms in southern and eastern Europe (including parts of France, Greece, Italy, and the Balkans) as well as East Asia (China and Japan) and other places. However, there are many different types of toilets:
Outdoor public toilets (in the street, around parks, etc.) are a form of Street furniture. For mixed sex arrangements, there are cubicles varying from simple devices with little or no Plumbing to more luxurious versions that automatically clean themselves after every use. Facilities without walls all around are typically for urination only, and for men only; although passers-by can see the urinating men from the back, they cannot see the genitals. These street urinals are known as "pissoirs" after the French term.
Some facilities are mobile and can thus be put in place where and when needed, e.g., for a weekend at an entertainment venue. Additionally, some can be sunk into the ground (and thereby made inoperable) for the periods that they are less needed. The idea behind this is that some people do not like the sight of a public toilet in the street, and they are more easily hidden than repeatedly moved. This type is typically installed in entertainment areas and made operational during weekend evenings and nights. People tend to be less shy about using it at these times, generally, because they are drunk.
A Port-a-john is an outdoor public toilet with walls which can either be connected to the local sewage system or store the waste and be emptied from time to time. Many toilets can be cleaned on the spot, or at a central location in the case of a mobile toilet or urinal. In Europe public toilets are also set up for cities as a compensation for advertising permits. They are part of a Street furniture contract between the out-of-home advertising company and the city council. The reason for this combination is the shortage in city budgets.
Some public toilets may be used free of charge, but others require payment. Payment can be accomplished by :
The practice of charging for use of public conveniences is the origin of the British euphemism for urination, to spend a penny; this was the standard charge for public lavatories from the Great Exhibition of 1851, which featured the world's first public water closets, until the decimalisation of Britain's coinage in 1971. Charging for public urination also gives rise to the French term for a urinal, "vespasienne"; this is directly derived from the Roman nickname for a street-side urine collection pot, whose contents were used in laundry and taxed by the Emperor Vespasian.
Many train stations and bus terminals have installed pay toilets during the 1950s and 1960s. Most of these have since been removed because of vandalism on the pay lock mechanisms.
The use of pay toilets has been made illegal by some municipalities. In other locations, public restrooms must have one free toilet for every 4 to 5 pay toilets. In the United States of America it is illegal to charge for toilet use for any reason. The Supreme Court in a decision stated that you cannot charge a person a fee, because relieving oneself is a biological necessity. In the past some businesses used the payment system to limit access to toilets and this is still accomplished by use of a key system for patrons only or outright denying access to all of the public. In most areas this is illegal for public (stadiums for example) and government buildings.
In the United Kingdom it is technically permitted to charge for water closets, but not for the use of gentlemen's urinals.
Many European toilet doors used to be (and still sometimes are) only marked "WC", which can cause confusion to non-Europeans. Similarly, in the Philippines the label "CR" (comfort room) is common, which is equally unintuitive to overseas visitors.
Sex-separated public toilets are a source of difficulty for some people. For example, people with children of the opposite sex must choose between bringing the child into a toilet not designated for the child's gender, or entering a toilet not designated for one's own. Men caring for babies often find that only the women's washroom has been fitted with a change table.
Sex-separated public toilets are often difficult to negotiate for transgendered or androgynous people, who are often subject to embarrassment, harassment, or even assault or arrest by others offended by the presence of a person they interpret as being of the other gender (whether due to their outward presentation or their genital status). Transgendered people have been arrested for using not only bathrooms that correspond to their gender of identification, but also ones that correspond to the gender they were assigned at birth.
Many existing public toilets are gender-neutral. Additionally, some public places (such as facilities targeted to the transgendered or homosexual communities, and a few universities and offices) provide individual washrooms that are not gender-specified, specifically in order to respond to the concerns of gender-variant people; but this remains very rare and often controversial. Various courts have ruled on whether transgendered people have the right to use the washroom of their gender of identification.
A significant number of facilities have additional gender-neutral public toilets for a different reason - they are marked not for being for females or males, but as being accessible to persons with disabilities, and are adequately equipped to allow a person using a wheelchair and/or with mobility concerns to use them.
Another recent development in public toilets is the "family restroom". Family restrooms are unisex but unlike other unisex bathrooms that allow only one user at a time, the family restroom contains multiple stalls designed for maximum privacy and communal washing area for use by both genders. The family restroom is designed so that a parent with a young child of the opposite gender can bring the child into the restroom with them without the concerns associated with single-gender restrooms. Family restrooms have started appearing newly-built sports stadiums, amusement parks, shopping malls, and major museums.
Toilets in private homes are almost never separated by sex. However, the size of a home or facility bears on the availability of options . Small establishments are limited by their space to the toilet options they can offer; it is more common to find a higher number of choices in a large facility. The same is true for homes; in more affluent households, where the homes are usually larger, bathrooms are also often more spacious than average, and more numerous. In such homes, bathrooms (especially master bathrooms) are increasingly being designed with an small adjoining room exclusively for the toilet, as well as separate washing basins. This makes it easier for couples who share a bathroom to maintain their desired level of privacy and personal space.
Toilets appeared early in history. In the year 2500 BCE, the people of Harappa in India had water borne toilets in each house that were linked with drains covered with burnt clay bricks. There were also toilets in ancient Egypt and China. In Roman civilization, toilets were sometimes part of public bath houses where men and women were together in mixed company.
The invention of the flush toilet is credited to Sir John Harington in 1596, though it took improvements in the Victorian era (likely spearheaded by Alexander Cummings rather than Thomas Crapper as is commonly stated) for flushing toilets to become widely used. Before and during this transitional period (which extended well into the 20th century in some regions), many people used outdoor outhouses instead, particularly in rural areas.
For many years gay men have used them for cruising, i.e. for anonymous sexual contact. When used for such purposes, public toilets are often referred to as "Roman tea rooms". The playwright Joe Orton made reference to this practice in his plays. Particularly associated with toilets is the use of glory holes for peeping, or anonymous fellatio. Another example, equally open to heterosexual participation, would be sex in airplane lavatories, which is reflected in the phrase "Mile High Club".
In many cultures, each gender has its own distinct "toilet etiquette." American women may invite one another to go to the toilet together, and once inside, chat with abandon. Men tend to be more reticent (perhaps out of nervousness at being perceived as gay), and may even experience pee shyness; yet they too may feel a certain camaraderie (though this is often more easily felt during outdoor, toilet-less urination).
In the wake of the cartoon film Finding Nemo, a number of children sought to help their tropical fish "escape" captivity by means of the toilet. Many sewage treatment plants responded by announcing that live animals in the sewer are almost certainly killed by the treatment process.
Several movies include comic scenes involving eruptions of water and/or sewage while a character is sitting on the toilet. (E.g. Weird Science). See also Toilet humour.
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