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AIBU?

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Original poster

Is this a middle class saying?

478 replies

Toblecorleone · 17/12/2023 19:36

Light hearted!

earlier today DH and I took DD to a small petting zoo type place. Not many people there and at one point it was just us and another woman with a girl aged about 3. Woman seemed quite posh, well spoken, both dressed rather posh - the woman was explaining something about guinea pigs to her daughter and then broke off and said “do you want bog?”

The girl said she did so off they went to find the toilets. I was quite suprised by the this phrase from someone who seemed so well spoken but DH says it’s a very middle class saying and he’d have thought “toilet” would have sounded more “common”.

I totally disagree!! Before anyone starts I know it doesn’t matter, I’m just amused by it and interested in how others would perceive this saying?!

YABU - Bog is very middle class
YANBU - bog is common talk

OP posts:
TheAlchemistElixa · 17/12/2023 21:31

I think it’s quite middle class. My mum would rather we’d have said shitter than toilet! She thought it an awful word. We also couldn’t say lounge, or serviette, or pardon. She used also used the word bog! Not as often as loo, but still pretty often. Bog roll, too…

IDoughnutKnow · 17/12/2023 21:31

Frasers · 17/12/2023 21:20

That’s not right and I think the poster or her kids are taking the piss. No one posh stands up and says excuse me where it rhe shitter or pisser 😂

Show quote history

Of course they wouldn't say that in public (or I hope they wouldn't). They would say "loo".

I just asked them what they thought about "bog", as I was looking at this thread, and that was the response of Child 1.

He went to a single sex school, so I thought that might skew things a bit, but the others were nodding along.

FancyFanny · 17/12/2023 21:31

Bog is a teenage word in my experience. Never hear anyone over the age 16 using it but I remember calling the toilets 'the bogs' at school.

Alliwantforchristmasisbooooze · 17/12/2023 21:32

What’s wrong with saying pardon?? You’d rather say ‘What?’ Surely that’s ruder?

Thepeopleversuswork · 17/12/2023 21:33

Zoflorabore · 17/12/2023 21:29

Bog is as low as it gets. I’m from Liverpool and certain types use it here but they are the more rough people.

i don’t get the issue with toilet. It’s a toilet. What’s the problem with it? I mean it’s technically called a WC but I’ve never heard it called that once.

Again, there's no problem with toilet at all. It just is a word which in the days when people were very class conscious, was shunned by people who considered themselves to be upper class.

Because, like other words which are derived from French (serviette, pardon etc), it was associated with the upwardly mobile, aspirational lower middle class. Very posh people and upper middle class people wanted to put clear blue water between themselves and those people. So for people who cared about such things, these sorts of slightly twee and euphemistic words were to be avoided.

It's all a lot of rubbish anyway and few people care these days. But if you want to sound really posh you don't use the word "toilet".

RosesAndHellebores · 17/12/2023 21:33

The more you have to think and fuss about it the less posh you are.

ichundich · 17/12/2023 21:33

Given that people normally fall over themselves on here in order to prove that they are very much "working class", I find it strange that "toilet" seems so unacceptable.

Corgiowner · 17/12/2023 21:33

Alliwantforchristmasisbooooze · 17/12/2023 21:32

What’s wrong with saying pardon?? You’d rather say ‘What?’ Surely that’s ruder?

Pardon is another one up there with serviette.

LinguisticallyCunning · 17/12/2023 21:34

I say bog and I'm as rough as fuck.

Corgiowner · 17/12/2023 21:37

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 17/12/2023 21:25

Bog roll or loo roll - definitely!

I say loo roll but I hadn’t thought about till I read this thread I always say “bog brush”.

Nanaof1 · 17/12/2023 21:40

howdoesyourgardengrowinmay · 17/12/2023 19:42

Powder room
Rest room
Lavatory
Toilet
Facilities
Wash room
Bog
Khazi
Ladies/gents

I just say ...... where's the ... ummmm.….

And leave it hanging, so to speak

I use some of the same ones you do, especially rest room. Other than that, I use bathroom. In public, it's usually rest room, if I am trying to be discreet.

To me, bog sounds about the same as "head" and "john". "Head" annoys me as, to me, it seems crass.

PhulNana · 17/12/2023 21:40

sunglassesonthetable · 17/12/2023 21:23

On a shopping list I write "bog roll"

yes! Bog roll!

And me!

PhulNana · 17/12/2023 21:41

Alliwantforchristmasisbooooze · 17/12/2023 21:32

What’s wrong with saying pardon?? You’d rather say ‘What?’ Surely that’s ruder?

Not in Lancs where I come from. It's normal.

FunnysInLaJardin · 17/12/2023 21:45

no, bog is really really not MC

NancyJoan · 17/12/2023 21:46

How revolting. I say loo, and cringe inwardly when I hear anyone say toilet.

penjil · 17/12/2023 21:46

Deargodletitgo · 17/12/2023 19:38

Well apparently the word toilet is lower middle class, so any alternative word would be considered posher perhaps?

I always say loo. But I'm not British so don't give a shit.

Well, you should give a shit if you're living here!

Friedfriedplantain · 17/12/2023 21:47

Bog is totally normal! My dad's always said it.

Head isn't crass, it's what it's called on a boat, why is that crass?

I married a Canadian and they say "use the washroom" even in informal settings. Very polite.

marquislafayette · 17/12/2023 21:48

Okay I am genuinely really surprised at people saying ‘toilet’ is rude and they would never say it. I always say it!

sunglassesonthetable · 17/12/2023 21:49

Well, you should give a shit if you're living here!

Nope, quite the opposite, I shouldn't worry about it AT ALL.

Firebird83 · 17/12/2023 21:49

From the book Watching the English by Kate Fox:

“Toilet: Another word that makes the higher classes flinch — or exchange knowing looks if it’s uttered by a would-be social-climber. The term used by upper-middles and uppers is ‘loo’ or ­‘lavatory’ ­(pronounced ‘lavuhtry’, with the accent on the first syllable).
‘Bog’ is occasionally acceptable, but only if said in an obviously ironic-jocular manner. The working classes all say ‘toilet’, as do most lower-middles and middle-middles.”

DissidentDaughter · 17/12/2023 21:50

Wot a bonkers thread! Loo, lav or bog, depending on context - who cares?

That said, I’ve been programmed from birth to desist from using ‘those French words’ 😂

CrapGoat · 17/12/2023 21:51

I say 'Lavvy' just because I don't like the sound of 'loo' and 'toilet' is just a horrible work. I have had it commented that I sound 'posh' saying that and I am far from it? Family well-to-do, I'd say but not posh!
My middle-class male friend says 'bog' though! In an ironic way I think-he has quite a posh voice and it sounds hilarious coming from him. Like Prince King Charles saying 'Bugger off' or something.

marquislafayette · 17/12/2023 21:51

NancyJoan · 17/12/2023 21:46

How revolting. I say loo, and cringe inwardly when I hear anyone say toilet.

What’s wrong with toilet 😭

Some of the replies seem to suggest toilet= swear word, people saying their kids aren’t allowed to say it?? I’m very confused!

Kittylickingplate · 17/12/2023 21:51

Bog seems very Australian.

BarelyCoping123 · 17/12/2023 21:52

Toblecorleone · 17/12/2023 19:42

So are we saying bog is posher than toilet?

No, no one is saying this! The opposite! Bog is the lowest form of reference

And never mind class - "do you want bog" sounds like a caveperson speaking