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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you care if your child says loo, toilet, bathroom or bog?

107 replies

mantyzer · 25/12/2023 02:14

And importantly why?
I ask because I do not understand why anyone cares about things like this and want to understand peoples thoughts around this.

OP posts:
TheaBrandt · 25/12/2023 06:42

I quite like bog. Detest toilet (my granny was adorable but quite snobbish and passed that on). We say loo.

pickledandpuzzled · 25/12/2023 06:43

I called it the littlest room yesterday. But I was talking to the dog!
Generally loo or toilet.

dislike bog. It sounds wet and swampy and unpleasant!

LadyScarlett · 25/12/2023 06:46

I call it the The Ladies, I'm popping to the ladies. Even at home. I'm a bit strange but i don't care.

I don't mind people saying toilet, unless someone says I'm going to "do the toilet ". That's quite revolting.

Loo, I wouldn't say.

Bog, I might try that in the middle of Christmas lunch and see what my mother says to that.

Tlolljs · 25/12/2023 06:46

I don’t like bog. The throne, thunder box, lav.
Anything really.

IAmAnIdiot123 · 25/12/2023 06:48

Loo/toilet I don't care, never given it much thought. The only thing I hate is when people say 'going for a slash'.

Sirian · 25/12/2023 06:49

I want my kids to be well mannered and polite so of course I care! It’s the loo. Words like bog or shitter just sound awful and would make me think the speaker was very badly raised. Bathroom is acceptable in a pinch but technically incorrect as public facilities don’t contain baths. Toilet is borderline and I’d prefer it wasn’t used, except to refer to the physical ceramic object.

Solymoly · 25/12/2023 06:50

It's lav in our house

betterangels · 25/12/2023 06:53

Thepeopleversuswork · 25/12/2023 06:41

I personally couldn’t care less about what my DD calls it.

My mum would have had a fit of the vapours if I had used the word “toilet”. She was very influenced by that U vs Non U stuff and I think she would have thought using the word “toilet” would limit our ability to get on in life. Daft.

But we were both girls and she was very ambitious for us so maybe something rational at the bottom of it. Those sorts of gaffes can influence your chances.

Stuff like this weirdly fascinates me about English society. But it's such a minefield as someone who lived there as a foreigner. I did learn to use loo though.

Beezknees · 25/12/2023 06:55

I don't care at all. I don't think what you call it has any reflection on manners or how you've been brought up, same as the whole dinner/tea and napkin/serviette discussion. It's just a word.

We say toilet in our house, that's what I've always called it. I never hear anyone say bog, that always struck me as a very old fashioned word!

Lochness1975 · 25/12/2023 06:58

loo, toilet and bathroom in this house. Hate bog, lav, shitter, so vulgar.

Thepeopleversuswork · 25/12/2023 07:01

@betterangels

Stuff like this weirdly fascinates me about English society. But it's such a minefield as someone who lived there as a foreigner. I did learn to use loo though.

As someone who grew up with it it makes me really cross: it’s based on nothing but judgement and the narcissism of minor differences. It should have died out ages ago.

I understand why non English people find it difficult to understand. To be honest it’s far less important now than it was and people who overly worry about it just look like arseholes these days.

ploikj · 25/12/2023 07:05

We say toilet, 'loo' is twee, not going near the b word. I do like how Americans say wash/rest/bathroom. Wish that would stick here!

ploikj · 25/12/2023 07:06

I'm surprised loo is seen as better, feels quite common to me!

IhearyouClemFandango · 25/12/2023 07:08

We have always said loo, I don't mind if the kids say that or toilet, bathroom etc. I wouldn't have bog though, I don't know anyone who says that as a matter of course and it is pretty vulgar sounding.

Solymoly · 25/12/2023 07:08

If you buy a bathroom suite, it is always called toilet, on estate agents blurb it is called toilet, toilet is the name of the fixture

hattie43 · 25/12/2023 07:14

Why do you care .

It's obvious . Middle class people will use bathroom / toilet or loo at a push .
Rough people use bog / shitter

End of .

Solymoly · 25/12/2023 07:16

If you are older it's often lav, it's a bit of an old fashioned word now though.

Perhapsanorhertimewouldbebetter · 25/12/2023 07:19

In less well known company he'd say loo, toilet, bathroom, but among friends/family he's more specific (as am I).

Beezknees · 25/12/2023 07:20

hattie43 · 25/12/2023 07:14

Why do you care .

It's obvious . Middle class people will use bathroom / toilet or loo at a push .
Rough people use bog / shitter

End of .

Well that's not necessarily correct. I'm not middle class and I say toilet.

IhearyouClemFandango · 25/12/2023 07:22

And according to old school etiquette loo is better than toilet so 🤷

Oblomov23 · 25/12/2023 07:23

Some are more coarse than others. I usually say toilet.

ImCamembertTheBigCheese · 25/12/2023 07:23

I haven't heard the word bog used since I was a teen but I'd not be happy with shitter. Here the word used is bathroom or toilet.

LolaSmiles · 25/12/2023 07:24

I don't mind from any of loo, toilet, bathroom, going to the ladies, going to the gents or anything like that.

I don't like bog, shitter, or other unnecessarily coarse terms, but I also don't like it when people announce they're going for a slash, or going to take a dump.

Solymoly · 25/12/2023 07:24

If I was on the property and DIY board, talking about a leak I would use the word toilet but at home I go to the lav

HuntingoftheSnark · 25/12/2023 07:29

I say bathroom from living overseas, like a couple of PPs. I do find it slightly odd when people excuse themselves from meetings with "I'm just going for a wee".