loo,toilet,bathroom,lavatory...what to do if you've got to go!

[DamonBradleylovesPippi]

English is not my first language and I wasn;t brought up here. The whole concept of language defining class etc eludes me at time.

please can you explain the above for me. which means what?

can you add similar? i.e. living room/lounge/
sofa/setee etc

loo... dont like it, its kind oflike you're trying to be over casual about saying toilet
toilet... to the point and polite
bathroom... the room with your bath and sink and loo, so not right if you're asking for the toilet
lavatory... the toilet, but it old persons lingo

I thought that toilet was to the point and polite as you said. On another thread I was told loo is the only way to go and never ever toilet - hence the confusion and this thread. Now even more confused.

"I need a wee"

Some people are quite snobby about "toilet" it is in the same category as serviette.

I was brought up with toilet (my mum pronounces is "toilitt"), serviette, settee.

If I try to say napkin, sofa, loo, I feel like I sound a bit "affected" iykwim.

i hate 'loo', its so twee, although a few people can pull it off sounding ok!

I think "posh" people say lavatory, or loo.

Toilet is frighfully common supposedly.

see I say toilet but also sofa and napkin and living room.

Isn't it worse to say 'loo' when you are clearly not posh then?
This language/class thing is so complicated to a forriner...

for

If you are really quite posh, you would think that "toilet" is quite common and would say "lavatory" or "loo".

Bathroom means toilet/loo etc if you are American (as in "can I use your bathroom?), but in the UK you wouldn't use bathroom that way.

Re what you say and when - you have to judge your audience. If I was asking someone quite posh, I'd ask to use the loo or lavatory.

I struggle to work it out tbh and I an not a "forriner" as you describe yourself.

I had to chuckle a while ago, I visited some rather posh clients. She mentioned the "lavatory" (was relevant to the conversation) then seemed to weigh up that I was more common (!) and corrected herself and changed it to say "toilet" but looked rather uncomfortable saying that word

lol - a friend of mine from overseas always says her ds "needs to urinate"

I often wonder if I should say politely "actually we usually say....." or just let her continue as she is. She is after all far more correct in what she says than I am

I refer to the loo/needing a wee

lavatory - old person speak!
bathroom/washroom - used in USA, if you say eg toilet there they think you are terribly rude!

living room/lounge - not sure if that is a north/south, old fashioned/modern or posh/not posh divide! I say lounge as a personal preference

Similar differences with lunch/tea/dinner/supper - causes confusion

Hassled I too "judge my audience" but sometimes I feel a bit hypocritical iykwim.

If I was at my mum's for example I would always ask for a serviette, not a napkin.

If I am not sure of my audience I tend to say "loo" for toilet.

I say loo - does that make me posh??

DH was horrified tonight when DS said 'gra-rse' not ' grass' - I was proud!! I'm the lone southern voice in a sea of midlanders....

oh don;t get me started on the breakfast/lunch/dinner thingy. when and why has "tea" become the evening meal. For some reasons I cannot bring myself to say "tea" as for me that is what you have with small sandwich and buisquits in the aft (not that we do now, but we did back home), not your last meal of the day.

my MIL saya' spend a penny'

I usually refer to it as the lavatory, or I may ask to use their facilities. I used to say dunny in my younger days.

drawing room or living room - never lounge.

Sofa or couch, never settee.

Napkin, never serviette.

Pudding, never dessert or cringe afters.

I think lavatory and loo are correct. I say loo as I think most people would laugh at me if I said lavatory

I think I say "sitting room" - not sure where this fits in but I definitely wouldn't say lounge.

I sit on the sofa (not settee)

I would say what's for pudding.

I pronounce bath baaaaarrth
and grass graaarrrss
I pronounce scone scon (short o sound)

Just ask to use the 'Gary'.

Never living room - it is a 'Sitting Room' or a 'Drawing Room'

Loo is best. Lavatory OK. Never toilet.

Sofa always.

Napkin always.

happywomble 'I pronounce bath baaaaarrth
and grass graaarrrss' what's the other type of pronounciation?

There's no "correct" form, for a start. There are forms that are perceived as prestige, but these can "flip" as they gain wider currency and so become less prestigious.

Find something that suits you, and don't worry too much!

"Tea" for dinner is a very northern English thing, and has been for a very long time - it's not new.

And pronunciation is regional, not necessarily class-based.

I feel you can only say drwing room if 1. you are out of a bronte's novel 2. if you've got more than one reception room. I'd feel quite pathetically grand saying 'it's over there in the drawing room' living in a two bed flat, say. no?

Bath or grass both with a short "a" like cat in the North and Scotland.

And stuff all this "is best" crap - it's fine to prefer something, not to prescribe it. These aren't swear words.

habbibu I do not worry as I think it'll be difficult for me to change after so many years. It's just a bot of curiosity and wanting to understand the language and its connotations really.

ok "tea" is not new but does anyone knows why a drink ended up denoting a meal?

Loo (or lavatory if you really must). Never, ever toilet.

A lounge is found in an airport not a house and drawing and sitting rooms are seperate rooms to me too.

Sofa not 'settee'.

Pudding not dessert.

Tea is a drink and dinner is never eaten at lunch time!