superpeeve Oh my Gawd! - Totally unOfficial Pet Peeve Thread.

[Madelaine McMasters]

36 minutes ago, SarahKB7 Koskinen said:

Peeve: Americans who are too prudish or squeamish to call a room with a toilet, "the toilet". Instead they use nonsensical nouns like "restroom" or "bathroom" instead.

Anywhere else in the world, a room designated a "restroom" would imply such a room should be for resting in. Perhaps on a sofa,  a chaise-lounge or a bed. No. It contains the toilet.

A bathroom implies it should contain a bath, for bathing in. Sometimes there are baths, but in it's American usage and context, no it contains the toilet.

Sarah, your ire reminds me of the story of TV talk show host Jack Parr walking off his own show for a month to protest the censoring of a joke he told regarding a bathroom...

https://wordinfo.info/unit/3956

Here's the setup and the joke, which suggests that, probably before our time, Americans were not the only prudes...

An English lady, while visiting Switzerland, was looking for a room for a more extended stay, and she asked the schoolmaster if he could recommend any to her. He took her to see several rooms, and when everything was settled, the lady returned to her home to make the final preparations to move.

When she arrived home, the thought suddenly occurred to her that she had not seen a "W.C." around the place. So she immediately wrote a note to the schoolmaster asking him if there were a "W.C." near the room.

The schoolmaster was a very poor student of English, so he asked the parish priest if he could help in the matter. Together they tried to discover the meaning of the letters "W.C.," and the only solution they could come up with for the letters was for a Wayside Chapel. The schoolmaster then wrote the following note to the English lady:

 

Dear Madam:

I take great pleasure in informing you that the W.C. is situated nine miles from the room that you will occupy, in the center of a beautiful grove of pine trees surrounded by lovely grounds. It is capable of holding about 229 people and it is only open on Sunday and Thursday.

As there are a great number of people who are expected during the summer months, I would suggest that you come early; although, as a rule, there is plenty of standing room. You will no doubt be glad to hear that a good number of people bring their lunch and make a day of it. While others who can afford to go by car arrive just in time.

I would especially recommend that your ladyship go on Thursday when there is a musical accompaniment. It may interest you to know that my daughter was married in the W.C. and it was there that she met her husband.

I can remember the rush there was for seats. There were ten people to a seat ordinarily occupied by one. It was wonderful to see the expression on their faces. The newest attraction is a bell donated by a wealthy resident of the district. It rings every time a person enters.

A bazaar is to be held to provide plush seats for all the people, since they feel it is a long felt need. My wife is rather delicate, so she can't attend regularly. I shall be delighted to reserve the best seat for you, if you wish, where you will be seen by everyone.

For the children, there is a special time and place so they will not disturb the elders.

Hoping to have been of service to you, I remain,

Sincerely,
The Schoolmaster.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Wow, that looks really well-done. I actually kind of like the whole lounge area thing - especially in a place like a nightclub where you want to kind of fade out of the crowd and relax for a bit without having to sit at the bar. Great for when your feet hurt too damn much, too.

Didn't places also have an employee standing around in the lounge area to hand out...something? Soap? Cigarettes back in the day? Can't even remember what they were giving out, but I've seen that, too!

Nowadays, there's always "lactation rooms".. but at the office, women are supposed to reserve that in advance, for the intended purpose.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 minute ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Nowadays, there's always "lactation rooms".. but at the office, women are supposed to reserve that in advance, for the intended purpose.

Airports typically have those, too, yup, and baby changing areas, and lounges with seating. 

My state just passed legislation making that mandatory in state airports, come to think of it. 

[Rowan Amore]

4 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Wow, that looks really well-done. I actually kind of like the whole lounge area thing - especially in a place like a nightclub where you want to kind of fade out of the crowd and relax for a bit without having to sit at the bar. Great for when your feet hurt too damn much, too.

Didn't places also have an employee standing around in the lounge area to hand out...something? Soap? Cigarettes back in the day? Can't even remember what they were giving out, but I've seen that, too!

Bathroom attendants and yes, the theater used to have them.  I haven't been recently (probably in 25 yrs) so I'm not sure if it's still something they have during upscale events.  Check the website  akroncivic.com.  The place is absolutely stunning.  Very retro/art deco ish.

[PheebyKatz]

LOL, toilet means bath, you know.

Peeve: people going potty in the bath, as if the toilet was something to go potty in.

Another Peeve: humanity's need to represent things with words which are not the things themselves, but rather, merely symbolic representations of the ideas of said things instead, which are then open to minsiterpretation because not everyone was born in France.

And Another Peeve, While I'm Thinking Of It: Anglophilic "casuals" who don't know what "bog roll" is.

Yet Another Peeve, Because Free Association Happened: people who serve fish & chips or even sausages without the mushy peas, and dare to call it authentic English food.

Final Peeve Of This Post, I Promise: not even being English OR French, and having to put up with all of this nonsense, in this best of all possible worlds, as if such things should even dare to be allowed to affect me in any way whatsoever- yeah, I'm sleepy, someone stop me before I start rambling, or something.

Edited July 8, 2022 by PheebyKatz

[SarahKB7 Koskinen]

Toilet comes from the Anglo-Norman French word, toilette - "to clean oneself". Which is why the Toilet (room) in England also usually contains a sink, bath, or shower.

But if there is no actual toilet in the room, then it's called the Bathroom, because the bath found in it is the main purpose of the room; with the toilet conveniently located elsewhere in its own room closeby. Which is a good thing, as people can have their shower or bath without someone else intruding to use the toilet

Likewise with showers and Shower Rooms.

Edited July 8, 2022 by SarahKB7 Koskinen

[Love Zhaoying]

3 minutes ago, PheebyKatz said:

LOL, toilet means bath, you know.

"Eau de Toilette" comes to mind. I have a dim memory that in the movie "Paper Moon", young Tatum O'Neal thought "Eau de Toilette" was impressive.  At the time, I thought "right, toilet water". 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eau_de_toilette

[Love Zhaoying]

3 minutes ago, SarahKB7 Koskinen said:

Toilet comes from the Anglo-Norman French word, toilette - "to clean oneself".

Do "toilets" clean your backside there? I thought that was bidets.

[SarahKB7 Koskinen]

Some toilets have bidet style spray jets built into them, but mostly, not.

Edited July 8, 2022 by SarahKB7 Koskinen

[Ayashe Ninetails]

10 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Bathroom attendants and yes, the theater used to have them.  I haven't been recently (probably in 25 yrs) so I'm not sure if it's still something they have during upscale events.  Check the website  akroncivic.com.  The place is absolutely stunning.  Very retro/art deco ish.

Wow, that place is seriously nice! The whole stage area is something else.

And yeeees, bathroom attendants! I haven't seen one in ages, but I remember they used to be a thing.

[Madelaine McMasters]

In our family, bathrooms went by many names:

Outhouse (I still have one in RL)
Inhouse (I have three of those)
John
Potty
Crapper
Little girl's/boy's room
Head
Biffy
Throne room
Powder room
Where can I see a man about a horse?

I know there are more, but I'd need to sit on the throne for them to come to me.
 

[Rowan Amore]

3 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Do "toilets" clean your backside there? I thought that was bidets.

So, in essence, a washroom or 'bath'room.  Even so, I hope we're all at the least, washing our hands.

[PheebyKatz]

Yeah, only in America and other third-world countries are the common people's potties not fully equipped...

I blame the recycled trees industry.

A nice touch in some Indian restaurants is a kitchen sprayer affixed to the bathroom sink. If you ever wondered what that was for, wonder no longer. Some lesser establishments simply break a corner off the toilet tank lid, for that famous left-handed water dippin' move.

In a perfect world, I suppose we'd all have nice warm showers instead, but that really takes time away from the buffet table.

Edited July 8, 2022 by PheebyKatz

[Madelaine McMasters]

3 minutes ago, PheebyKatz said:

In a perfect world, I suppose we'd all have nice warm showers instead, but that really takes time away from the buffet table.

Eat in the shower?

[Madelaine McMasters]

While we're discussing misnomers...

Am I the only one who never eats in her dining room?

That's where I wrap gifts.

[PheebyKatz]

10 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Eat in the shower?

Not at the buffet, they got rules. You could be sharing your plate with another customer or something.

As for dining rooms, ours is where we store all the broken computers and clothes that nobody has felt like washing in over a year. Nobody eats there.

EDIT: The bong goes there also, to stop the dogs from knocking it over. I only forgot about that because we hardly ever use the bong either, cos we forget it's on the dining room table with all the broken computers and grody clothes.

Edited July 8, 2022 by PheebyKatz

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

9 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

While we're discussing misnomers...

Am I the only one who never eats in her dining room?

That's where I wrap gifts.

My dining room table is where the cats eat.  The rest of us eat in the livingroom or right in the kitchen where the sink is located for ease of cleaning up.

[SarahKB7 Koskinen]

Table Tennis originated from the dining room tables of Victorian England. This after-dinner game which utilised the dining table and small cork balls was called Wiff Waff instead, because of the sound the ball made when hit.

Edited July 8, 2022 by SarahKB7 Koskinen

[Sid Nagy]

1 hour ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

I like honesty and directness myself, but there is a point at which this turns into crudity. I mean nobody really wants another to tell them exactly what they're going to do when they leave the dinner table.

Do you really think that others don't know what you are up to when you don't use the word toilet when you leave the dinner table?

BTW In The Netherlands it is the formal expression to use the word toilet or toiletten in plural.
Nobody will get a red head when you ask a waiter or the bartender where the toiletten are in a restaurant.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Sid Nagy

[Love Zhaoying]

24 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

28 minutes ago, PheebyKatz said:

In a perfect world, I suppose we'd all have nice warm showers instead, but that really takes time away from the buffet table.

Eat in the shower?

So long as they have a sneeze-guard installed..

[Madelaine McMasters]

Just now, Cinnamon Mistwood said:

My dining room table is where the cats eat.  The rest of us eat in the livingroom or right in the kitchen where the sink is located for ease of cleaning up.

I have a dinette with lots of windows. I use it as a greenhouse. I usually eat at the kitchen island, often on the cutting board I used to prepare the meal. If I've got things to do, I'll eat while doing them. It's not uncommon to see me walking to the mailbox while munching on something. I'm gnawing on a carrot as I type this.

[Lindal Kidd]

17 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Pet peeve:

When you think you've found a really nice outfit, only to find it's a shape for sale just covered up like a steak with too much A1 sauce.

Or ads for shapes which only feature a head and shoulders shot. I mean, WT actual F?

[Sid Nagy]

19 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

While we're discussing misnomers...

Am I the only one who never eats in her dining room?

That's where I wrap gifts.

I don't have a dining room.
I eat at the kitchen table, behind my computer, on the couch in front of the TV  or outdoors.

[Madelaine McMasters]

1 minute ago, Sid Nagy said:

Do you really think that others don't know what you are up too when you don't use the word toilet when you leave the dinner table?

BTW In The Netherlands it is the formal expression to use the word toilet or toiletten in plural.
Nobody will get a red head when you ask a waiter or the bartender where the toiletten are in a restaurant.

Dad would sometimes ask the waiter "Where can I go to make room for what I'm about to order?"

[Love Zhaoying]

Just now, Madelaine McMasters said:

8 minutes ago, Cinnamon Mistwood said:

My dining room table is where the cats eat.  The rest of us eat in the livingroom or right in the kitchen where the sink is located for ease of cleaning up.

I have a dinette with lots of windows. I use it as a greenhouse. I usually eat at the kitchen island, often on the cutting board I used to prepare the meal. If I've got things to do, I'll eat while doing them. It's not uncommon to see me walking to the mailbox while munching on something. I'm gnawing on a carrot as I type this.

My 1920's kitchen is still under construction, so I eat in the 1950's faux kitchen.  Prior to that, I stood up to eat in the actual 1960's kitchen (which is being converted to a 1920's kitchen).