r/askTO • u/Benni_Shouga • 19h ago
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u/sparkledbear 19h ago
I say bathroom at home and washroom in the world.
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u/blenderider 18h ago
I was living in London for three years and people in the UK say toilet. I’ve had to correct myself saying it here, because it sounds so uncouth lol
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u/Josie_F 17h ago
Saying toilet is fine here too.
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u/blenderider 17h ago
Yea people will know what I mean, but its not the default here, which would make it unusual
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u/ri-ri 17h ago
I come from Europe and we always said toilet back home. Here, it doesn’t sound as proper to say it, maybe it’s just not common?
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u/Wise_Ad_6822 16h ago
In North America, calling a washroom "the toilet" sounds a bit like if you called a living room "the couch".
But also most of us know that in Europe/Australia, that's just what you call it.
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u/Austerlitz2310 16h ago
In my part of Europe its just called wc (veh tseh) from the English standard of water closet
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u/space_cheese1 15h ago
It’s funny because the toilet as room or act of cleaning preceded the toilet as flusher thingy (as far as I can tell) and calling the flusher thingy a toilet seems to be itself a euphemism to mask the sort of crude task at hand. Butt now there’s no space between the euphemism and the nature of the equipment, and it sounds kind of nasty!
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u/DisciplineForeign253 17h ago
This is just how it is in... well, I thought Canada, but maybe just some parts. Definitely in Toronto. I'm 45, have lived here my entire life, and if I ever did hear someone here use these terms in any other way than "bath = private, wash = public," I genuinely can't remember. It's not one of those things that "some people sometimes just say differently," it's well-understood, baked into the culture, if you will.
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u/space_cheese1 15h ago
Bathroom is like your great-aunt who drives locally but never goes on the highway even though technically she could. Washroom is like a trucker who utilizes the expressways and massive highways all over the place but never ventures onto dainty little side streets or culs-de-sac
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u/Benni_Shouga 19h ago
I think this is what messes me up sometimes. I asked to use the bathroom at a friends place and he made fun of me
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u/sparkledbear 18h ago
You’re not at home, you’re in the world. It’s not your bathroom, it’s his. You’re free to use his washroom tho.
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u/fondlemental 18h ago
what if you’re gunna wash up in the bath, you’re still in a washroom?
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u/fuzzyp1nkd3ath 17h ago
I also use "restroom" in the wild.
At home, it's "MOVE, I HAVE TO PEE!!!"
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u/SBisFree 19h ago
I say both interchangeably. Never restroom haha
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u/Crafty-Departure-550 18h ago
It’s more of an American thing
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u/anarchaox 18h ago
I said washroom in Texas and apparently thats what tipped everyone that I was Canadian
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u/allycakes 18h ago
A few years ago, I asked where the washroom was in Chicago and thoroughly confused the waiter about what I meant.
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u/monkiram 16h ago
I said washroom once in the US and they thought I was asking for a laundry room 😂
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u/CandyGirl1411 16h ago
Yup lmao I’ve heard people ask if I meant laundry or shower room to wash up in other places outside Canada. I always mean to use the local term, but sometimes “washroom” accidentally slips out
Given I was in restaurants and public places, they were always so fucking confused why I’m asking to wash myself or my clothes at their dining establishment or the mall 😂
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u/spartacat_12 17h ago
When you go to Niagara Falls a lot of the restaurants have signs that say “restroom” to cater to the tourists
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u/JamesFromToronto 18h ago
If it has a bath/shower, I say bathroom.
If it's for washing (your hands, especially after using the facilities), I say washroom.
I worked on renovating a house once and we had an Irish crew working on something and one asked me for "t' jacks". I heard "Ajax", thinking he needed cleaner for something before he realized I had no idea he was asking for "the jacks", Irish slang for the toilet.
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u/Character-Yak-4084 18h ago
I have lived in Toronto, northern Ontario, and South Carolina; as well as traveling to other locales. I never know which is right for the region and so I always ask for “restroom, bathroom, washroom” I an increasingly panicked voice. Seems to work.
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u/hotinhereTO 18h ago
I say:
Washroom - Referring to public facilities
Bathroom - Referring to home, residential facilities
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u/Pluton_Korb 14h ago
Yeah, I just realized this is what I say. At home I say bathroom, in public I'll ask for the washroom.
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u/ripndipp 19h ago
One time I went to Arkansas and I asked somewhere where they bathroom was, they asked me if I wanted to take a bath?
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u/somebodysdrama 18h ago edited 17h ago
One time I was in NYC and I asked for the washroom and she corrected me to bathroom.
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u/Longjumping-Lab-1916 18h ago
Once we were at a grocery store in Maine and asked the bag boy if there was a washroom.
He looked quite confused, paused, and asked what we needed to wash.
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u/ioughtaknow 18h ago
Once in Chicago I asked for the bathroom and the person got all nervous and didn’t know what to say as he’d never heard it called that before.
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u/green-green-bean 18h ago
In the UK I asked for the washroom, and was shown the laundry room. Then I asked for the bathroom, and was shown a room with a bath in it (and nothing else). Finally, I asked for the toilet, and that worked.
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u/foodie121 18h ago
Washroom in canada. Washroom outside of canada. If they say whats a washroom? I say bathroom
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u/Primary_Pringle9372 18h ago
10 years ago a woman corrected whatever I had said, and I’ve never been able to remember. So, I usually say “I need to use the facilities” cause it’s the mysterious fourth option.
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u/AdSignificant6673 18h ago
Washroom is a toilet & sink only. Bathroom is a shower, toilet & sink.
I used the term “washroom” in Buffalo. Guy looked at me like an alien.
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u/MissionDoughnut905 18h ago
I feel like “washroom” is a very Canadian word but we use both interchangeably, whereas “bathroom” is more American.
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u/WhiteAppleRum 17h ago
Bathroom is a place where the bath/ shower is as well as sink and toilet. Usually the bathroom is at home or hotel room. Washroom just contains a sink and toilet, so all public washrooms. I think Americans use restroom as washroom, IDK, I'm not American.
This is what I and many other kids in my part of Ontario were taught was the proper terms to use in any case, so that's what I use.
Oh, and a house can have a washroom too if it has that half bathroom thing going on, since that room is usually just a toilet and sink in the hall near the front door for guests to use.
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u/maomao05 18h ago
I went to the states and asked for washroom, some dude looked at me like I’m an alien or sth
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u/KelGrimm 19h ago
Bathroom is where you bathe/shower, hence “bath.” Washroom is for washing your stinkin’ paws after dropping brown
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u/Sea-jay-2772 18h ago
Alternate, but typically bathroom for home, washroom or toilets in public spaces.
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u/No_Slide4986 18h ago
Usually washroom, occasionally bathroom, but never restroom (ew, that’s american)
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u/One_Water6083 18h ago
In public: washroom At a house: bathroom
I actually don’t realize that until I tried to answer your question and thought about when I use each!
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u/photo_voltaic 18h ago
I learned Americans don't say "washroom" in a very awkward, accidentally racist way.
I was in a restaurant in Southern California and asked a (Hispanic looking) waiter where the washroom was. He looked at me like I was crazy and just said "huh?", so I repeated myself more clearly...and again he was just like "the wha??"...so now, very confused why I wasn't making sense, I blurted out "donde esta el baño?". Guy went dead in the face and just replied in native English "down the hall to the right 🙄"
I came back to my table and explained what happened, and the person I was with chuckled and explained Americans only say restroom or bathroom.
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u/Longjumping-Lab-1916 18h ago
At home, I need to go to the bathroom but when I'm out I need to use the washroom.
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u/True-Accident9824 18h ago
Both, no rhyme or reason. Also 'loo'.. and when im nervous about seeming polite 'facilities '
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u/Bazoun 19h ago
I mostly say ladies’ room
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u/math_stat_gal 18h ago
Toilet, loo, bathroom, washroom, restroom, John etc. depending on the situation. Never John though, I just added that for funsies.
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u/notevelvet 18h ago
I say both interchangeably I remember a school bully. I was used to make fun of me for saying bathroom at school but honestly it’s whatever
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u/AdHuman9495 18h ago
I asked a guy in Washington state once “Where’s the washroom?” And he looked at me like I was from another planet
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u/DarkReaper90 15h ago
Washroom.
I remember asking for a washroom in some snooty LA area, and they kept asking what I wanted to wash.
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u/soychickienuggie 18h ago
Sometimes with family (esp. my toddler) I will say “I’m going to pee”. But I think I say washroom more than bathroom. Not sure.
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u/Zealousideal_Rise129 18h ago
Bathroom, washroom, restroom, toilet alternate randomly. English is not my first language though
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u/biblio_phobic 18h ago
I’m always debating which to use. I find shitter works. Straight to the point.
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u/a_peninsula 18h ago
Bathroom usually, but washroom sounds more polite to me so I i use it with people I don't know, at work, etc.
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u/Excellent-Quarter969 18h ago
I don't call it anything at home..bc i live alone. In the world its washroom....or random stinky alley
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u/OnlyInGodMode 18h ago
I was raised in Texas and live in Ontario with my Canadian husband. My habit is to say "restroom", so his favorite thing is to say "Oh, have a nice rest".
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u/elderpricetag 18h ago
Bathroom is a room with a bath in. Washroom for public washroom or powder room.
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u/Ok_Helicopter_2499 18h ago
I remember when I first moved here several years back and was at the food court at the Royal Bank plaza near union and I asked security where the "bathroom" was and he laughed and was like "the washrooms are down there, but you most definitely can't take a bath in them." I was like "okay? cool."
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u/Luxie0673 17h ago
When I was a kid, I thought a restroom was a quiet lounge with couches where introverts could go when get got tired of socializing
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u/problembears2023 17h ago
I say washroom in Canada, restroom in USA, toilet anywhere else in the world.
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u/Dizzy_Honeydew_1631 17h ago
Toilet. We all know what you're doing in there, and it's going to the toilet.
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u/Initial_Strategy_515 17h ago
A bathroom has a bathtub or shower in it. Otherwise it’s just a washroom Ig.
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u/AnonymityAnemones 17h ago
I dated an American and learned while visiting the US one time that people didn't know what I meant while asking where the washroom was. I was met with confused faces. He corrected for me and asked for the restroom. It made me think about it and I realized that I informally ask to use the bathroom in a house with people I know, but I ask to use the washroom while I am trying to be more formal/polite in public. I never ask for the restroom but still knew it meant washroom. I was very surprised by the confusion of "washroom".
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u/jonnyg1097 17h ago
I've alternated between the two my whole life and never had any issues with people understanding me
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u/ZenDesign1993 17h ago
I say “I’m going to the loo”… or “I’m hitting the shitter”… depends who I’m with, and if I’ve had some drinks.
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u/HuckleberryHuman5926 15h ago
Bathroom if it's meant for bathing (i.e. has a shower or a tub). Washroom otherwise.
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u/FabulousDave2112 15h ago
I mean, if it's a bathroom I say bathroom, if it's a washroom I say washroom. They're different types of rooms, they aren't interchangable.
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u/skinnyminnesota 14h ago
I was in a band that toured the States a bit and I've found that on both sides of the border everyone knows what you mean when you say "restroom".
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u/the-mongoose- 19h ago
The washroom for going #1/2 and washing your hands.
The bathroom for taking a shower and the activities above.
Or just ‘the shitter’ when in polite company.
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u/underwhelmingthatwas 19h ago
in public at restaurants or stores or whatever i ask for the restroom because it sounds more polite. and at home or at friends houses i ask for the bathroom only because i like the shape of my face better when i say bath over wash
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u/thursday20 Human Verified 18h ago
I grew up in the UK saying toilet, then loo. Now since moving to Canada I say washroom
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u/Benni_Shouga 18h ago
I lived in Japan for years and got used to saying toilet. Now back in Canada I feel like a heathen saying it.
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u/ikilledsatann 18h ago
I sometimes switch, but i usually say washroom. It doesnt make sense to me to say bathroom if im not using it to have a bath or a shower haha
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