To think you shouldn't say she's ON the toilet

[pontipinemum]

I hate when DH says 'she's on the toilet' instead of 'she's in the bathroom' or 'she'll be back in a min, she's gone to the loo' or similar

I've heard him say it a good few times most recently over the weekend. I do tell him I don't like it, he doesn't see why.

This is meant in a light hearted way! It does not occupy much of my brain

YABU - It's a perfectly normal thing to say
YANBU - Bit graphic

Lol I often say I'm just popping to the loo. Many of my male friends are not past saying Im going for a piss . Which I think is TMI

A Father Christmas at a garden centre wonce apologised for his short absence to me and confided that he had been "on the toilet." Then cheerily shook my hand. 🤣😳😭

Lol I often say I'm just popping to the loo.

I do too, at home, to my kids or whatever. But I wouldn’t say it in a formal meeting, or to people I didn’t know very well.

I agree! It's too descriptive, it makes you picture that person actually using the toilet which nobody needs.

Wonce 😂 I think I am still asleep.

'Go away, mummy's on potty' I told my toddler who was banging on the bathroom door. Cue someone ringing the doorbell and I just knew what she was going to do. She shouted through the letter box ' go away mummy's on potty'. I had to let him in, it was the tv repair man I'd been waiting all morning for, he had the grace not to smile though.

Oh I never go to formal meetings for it to be an issue

I heard a woman in Disneyland shouting to the other adults she was with "Anybody wanna go potty?!" I felt so embarrassed for whoever she was with 🫣

Depends who you are talking to. For example, I will cheerfully tell my mum "I'm going for a slash", because I know it winds her up. But I'm dead common, me 🤣

I was actually brought up to say I'm going to the bathroom" but DH says he'll be in the toilet and thinks I'm weird.

I'm pretty sure if he was informing a third party of my activities, he'd say I was "busy" lol.

As long as they don’t announce that they’re going for a shit I don’t really care about the exact phrasing!

It’s a good rule not to supply information which is neither needed nor asked for, especially about bodily functions. Yes, we all have them, but nobody needs to know about yours, unless they are a healthcare professional.

In the loo

I always say...I'm nipping to the loo.
Or can I use your toilet??

I don't see any issue!

Agree it points a bit too vivid a picture-plus it might not actually be accurate! He only knows WHERE you are, unless he's got x-ray vision he doesn't know exactly what you're doing....

At the given time he doesn't know whether you actually are using the toilet or if you have finished and are washing your hands/looking in the mirror/having a quick clean of the bathroom/disposing of a tampon/fixing your hair/using the weighing scales/brushing your teeth/changing the loo roll because no other bastard in the entire house is capable of doing so, etc. All of which are things I combine with a trip to the loo (not at the same time, obvs!)

"She's 'avin a Barry White." 🤣🤣🤣😭

Seriously, though, I think the phrase "on the toilet" is much more evocative than "in the bathroom". You actually picture the person sitting on the loo doing their business, which is what some don't like.

Apart from which, surely it's grammatically correct to reply to a "where" question with a "where" answer - e.g if someone asks where you are tell them the location. If they ask what you're doing tell them the activity.

E.g. if someone asked "where's x" when you were at work the right answer would be
"She's at work/she's in the office" not "she's on the computer/she's examining a patient." A because nobody can say exactly what someone out of their field of vision is doing and B because they didn't ask WHAT x was doing they asked where you were.

@MoserRothOrangeandAlmond nipping to the loo does not conjure the same images/ thoughts. I know why you're going there but my brain thinks, going to that place in the house, end. Sitting on the loo, brain continues passed that with you into the bathroom and sees you sitting on the loo.

@redbuttons 😂I have a nearly 2 year old who insists on coming to the bathroom with me, then opens the door to leave. Luckily he hasn't managed to open any of them in public - yet.

Because there's a place between 'pretending we don't have bodily functions' and making explicit and unnecessary references to them. If a host asked you if your bed was comfortable you wouldn't reply 'yes, we had a good night's sleep and excellent sex in it' would you? Similarly, you can indicate that you're not available to someone without informing them that you're defecating. No one needs or wants to know this.

My mam is a terror for this. I do tell her that I do not need to know the details!!!

I've never heard anyone in real life refer to the lavatory, or loo, as the 'bathroom' unless they're American. Quite surprised how many people on here are using the term bathroom for the lavatory.

To me if someone said 'she's in the bathroom' I'd assume she's having a bath or shower because we're English.

That apart, I can understand why you're not happy if your DH is telling all and sundry that 'you're on the toilet' OP, if a stranger phones, for instance. However, if it's a family member or someone you know well, I can't really see the problem tbh. But if it bothers you, it bothers you so surely it's something he could just amend his words to accommodate.

I think you may work with a friend of mine as that's what he says. I've never heard anyone else say it.

I come from a part of the world where we say bathroom, washroom, restroom or ladies room. They all mean toilet. But literally no one would ever say "toilet". Way too literal and graphic.

So you have a shower room then, or a toilet/loo!

I knew someone who said that. 🤣