to think there is something wrong with Americans?

[TheBloodManCometh]

In Colorado, here for 5 weeks.

Why the HELL is there a half inch gap on either side of the door in all public toilets?? You can see everything going on!!!
This has been the case everywhere I've been in America?
AIBU to be both baffled and embarrassed

lighthearted btw. I don't really think there's something wrong with the Americans

California beach toilets, hahhaha. I had to treat DD to them at least once.

Very sandy & typically minging in other respects. The doors are only about 4' high so anyone can see over (and under if you were so minded) You learn an etiquette of just NOT looking. You walk past the cubicles against wall far from the doors so that the occupants won't see you, either.

That's why Americans are so weird. we expect self-restraint in public toilets.

ps: the walls between beach toilet cubicles are also only about 4' high. You Just Don't Look Over.

Selks, do people keep pigs and not eat them? Genuine questions, can't think of why else someone would have one.

I've travelled a bit, and "the worst loos I've experienced" seems to be a popular topic of conversation among travellers. China seems to be worst.

German ones aren't so bad compared with many I've seen in other countries. Or had to dig myself (and dung beetles - can't they at least learn to wait till you're done before they move in to do their thing?)

Always travel with my own stash of loo paper. And tend not to go into public loos without spare tissues in my pocket.

Probably the some of worst I've used are ones in a studenty club in a southern British city. The floor round the loos was slightly awash, and there was toilet roll trailing in it. I'm not usually bothered about risks of sitting on public loo seats, but in this case, I hovered (which is always fun when you're a bit pissed.) In any case, the lock was broken, so had to lean forward to try and hold the door shut at the same time. The floor outside of the cubicle wasn't awash, but you did stick to it and had to unpeel each footstep from the floor, as you walked across to try and find any soap (probably was some once, but long since run out) and a sink that was vaguely hygienic. The tap turned on with only a dribble of water, so turning it up more, it suddenly blurted out gobs of water, which splashed out across your middle, leaving you with a damp waist.

Although the loo at a border crossing somewhere in the middle of Africa was pretty grim.

Er.. Pipbin - going to see a man about a dog is Cockney rhyming slang for going to the bog, ie to the toilet. Not the pub!

"Going to see a man about a dog" is used in the US too, but doesn't mean going to the bathroom necessarily. It just means you are leaving and not disclosing why you are leaving.

SconeRhymesWithGone I don't think I've ever heard that before.

I do hear "I'm going to the little girls room" a lot which drives me nuts. Stop trying to dress up going to the bathroom as something cute.

Could be a Southern thing Squeaky. It's very common here. Men seem to say it more than women, though.

I've heard a grown woman say to another grown woman with no children in sight: "I have to go potty"
I hate that phrase anyway (I ask DD if she wants a wee not does she need to go potty, that makes no sense) but to hear adults say it in reference to themselves was weird!

Er.. Pipbin - going to see a man about a dog is Cockney rhyming slang for going to the bog, ie to the toilet. Not the pub!

The internet disagrees. Most of the internet seems to say that it refers to excusing yourself from a situation without talking about where you are going, which can include going to the toilet. Going to see a man about a dog, or horse, can often refer to going to place a bet.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See_a_man_about_a_dog

My friend's South African FIL has been known to excuse him self by saying 'I just need to pop off to attend to my breakfast/lunch/dinner' - meaning basically I am going to poo out my last meal. Barf.

I know someone who refers to going for a shit as 'just going to drop the kids off at the pool'. I don't know whether to or .

Agree with those that say 'man about a dog' is referring to the pub/betting shop etc, rather than the toilet.

Saying Bathroom for toilet or loo is spreading in Britain and needs stamping out. I've heard of Bathrooms in schools, which is bloody ridiculous. What do Americans say when they actually mean bathroom ie somewhere to shower or have a bath?

Oh if you want euphemisms for pooing my BIL is the master!

Trying to think of them now......throwing back the brown trout, crimping one off, .... aargh I cant think of any more! Will email my sister and ask her, it drives her mad, she thinks he searches the internet for them purely on the basis that it winds her up!

My ex MIL used to say to FIL and ex H "would you like to wash your hands before you leave?" in other words "We are driving for 2 hours, go to the loo now!" but she was so uptight and Hyacinth that she even berated her own sister for crying at their fathers funeral and drawing attention to herself

We go for "a bit of think" in this house :o

What do Americans say when they actually mean bathroom ie somewhere to shower or have a bath?

Well, in most cases, the toilet is IN or at least NEAR the bathroom. Just like it is in this country. If you're in public, in a restaurant or similar, you're not likely to be asking for a shower, so people generally know what you mean.

I find the water level in American toilets disconcertingly high.

As Sneepy says, there is never any need to differentiate. If I am visiting a friend's house for dinner for the first time and ask where the bathroom is, they will be pretty sure that I do not plan to take a bath before the dessert course.

Which brings to mind an aspect of the topic not yet covered in this thread: the "half-bath." This is a room in a US house, usually on the ground floor of a two-story house where all the bedrooms and full bathrooms are on the second floor (US second floor). It contains a toilet and a sink, but no tub or shower. It is called a half-bath or sometimes the powder room.

trills yes. esp if it is blocked and the contents comes over the rim...

Huh. That answers a question I've had for a while, scone. I don't know why, but I was thinking it was just an abbreviated bath or something.

I find the water level in American toilets disconcertingly high

Yes, this is the worst thing I found with American loos. If you are a mana and you sit down, your penis touches the water. It is disgusting. And the splashback can be terrible too.I really can't understand why they have such a high water level. Who could like this?

Scones, the American "half-bath" is the equivalent of "cloak room" in UK estate agent parlance.

So a cloak room with no cloaks would be sort of like a bathroom with no bath, right?

I have never heard an American man complain about the-penis-in-the-water thing. I will ask DH when he gets back from the grocery store and perhaps text my brothers.