inodoro
Need to know if there is a better word to describe a toilet... as I'm being told it is a inodoro but I was told it was either "baño" or "lavatorio"
26 Answers
This is the problem with euphemisms. You start using a word for toilet, and sooner or later, people try to sound less direct and to avoid mentioning the word that reminds them of the dirty stuff going on there, so they come up with a new word, which, for some time, sounds more acceptable... only to be replaced by another one again, and again.
Starting with "letrina", then "necesarias", "común", "excusado", "retrete", "inodoro", "(cuarto de) baño", "lavabo", "aseo", "servicios", "váter" (water-closet)... and many others.
Coming up with new words to say the same "better" is very fashionable nowadays.
I am actually looking for something else and came across this. I had the same question a while back when I was looking for the specific word for the actual toilet fixture.
At that time, no one that I knew seemed to know the word for the specific fixture. That's one of the problems in Southern California where "Spanglish" is the lingua franca. We have a kind of "creole" in which words for particular things, like "el inodoro," "el lavabo," la bañera (or "tina") and "la ducha," get lost in the general concept of the room, "el baño" or "el cuarto de baño," where we find them.
People kept saying that the room and the fixture are both "el baño." I had heard "inodoro" somewhere but wasn't sure anyone actually used the word until I was walking through Lowes (or Home Depot) and there is was, right in the plumbing section: "Inodoros"! If it's in Home Depot, it's settled!
TimEivissa said:
In England asking for anything except "The toilet/s" would get you some very strange looks!With the exception,maybe,of the lavatory but that's a very old fashioned word.
I thought you Brits called it the loo. Is that no longer true?
In the US, toilet is the only word for the fixture, and while it can also be used for the room, it has a somewhat crude sound to it, and wouldn't be appropriate in formal contexts.
We also use "go to the bathroom" as a euphemism for urinate or defecate. I remember as a little boy, standing in our bathroom and telling my dad to hurry up, because "I have to go to the bathroom!," to which he replied, "But you're already in the bathroom." The irony was lost on my young brain and full bladder at the time.
Yes, even the question is confusing. In America, "toilet" always means the actual toilet that you use, as in, "Please flush the toilet." You would never say "Where is the toilet'" -- but instead "Where is the bathroom'" or "Where is the restroom'"
My mom is from the country and she says "pot" or "commode" when she means the toilet. Needless to say, this can be a little confusing to the rest of us . . .
However, it's my understanding (please feel free to correct) that in Britain it would be quite natural to ask, "Where is the toilet'"
In the BBC Spanish lessons, they say "¿Donde está el servicio'" to ask this. However, they use a different word rather than "inódoro" for the actual toilet. (I'm going to have to go look this up.) It appears that this is yet another example of usage varying by country. Personally, I would like to know the best Mexican usage . . . can anyone help'
I don't understand how Inodoro can mean both Toilet and Odourless as in my experience most toilets are anything but odourless.
Otro también muy común pintado en las paredes de los váteres:
"Caga tranquilo
caga sin pena
pero no olvides
tirar de la cadena"
Por último, y para no aburrir, una variante del anterior:
"Caga tranquilo
caga contento
pero !por favor¡
caga dentro"
Muy común en los váteres de España el siguiente poema:
"En este lugar sagrado
donde entra tanta gente
hace fuerza el mas cobarde
y se caga el mas valiente"
CalvoViejo said:
While driving in from the airport here in Manta, Ecuador I noticed that someone had spray painted a message on a brick wall:"No se puede oriñar.¨It made me laugh. It's something of a commentary on the culture in this area.
They could have rubbed salt into the wound and added
o desfigura este muro con los "grafiti"
While driving in from the airport here in Manta, Ecuador I noticed that someone had spray painted a message on a brick wall:
"No se puede oriñar.¨
It made me laugh. It's something of a commentary on the culture in this area.
Hi CrazyKit
Who would have thought that this post would have generated so much interest. See you later, I have to go.
That's leave by the way, not to the inodoro.
James said:
TimEivissa said:
In England asking for anything except "The toilet/s" would get you some very strange looks!With the exception,maybe,of the lavatory but that's a very old fashioned word.
I thought you Brits called it the loo. Is that no longer true'In the US, toilet is the only word for the fixture, and while it can also be used for the room, it has a somewhat crude sound to it, and wouldn't be appropriate in formal contexts.We also use "go to the bathroom" as a euphemism for urinate or defecate. I remember as a little boy, standing in our bathroom and telling my dad to hurry up, because "I have to go to the bathroom!," to which he replied, "But you're already in the bathroom." The irony was lost on my young brain and full bladder at the time.
Funnily enough James, whilst the word "Loo" is used, it is related to the "action" as in "I'm going to the loo". But in asking where the "loo" is, we would generally use the word toilet.
Valerie said:
No one has offered "excusado", but I'm sure I saw this on a sign in Yucatan asking you not to throw things in the toilet. (The appliance, not the room
).
In actual fact Lazarus mentioned "excusado" on page 1) of this post, second reply, below mine.
Ask for the bathroom, toilet, ladies, the loo, and to spend a penny... yes that is old fashioned!
And to continue Eddies theme, I once overheard two Canadian girls at a festival saying they needed to go to the restroom... it was the first time I'd heard the expression and and being rather tired and overworked and on a short break I decided to follow them to this illusive place... how could I have missed that? Laugh at my disappointment when they ended up queuing for the portaloo cubicles... yuck!
A year or 2 later I did actually encounter one of these blue plastic things which had 2 real seats as well as the serviceable one, presumably so you could wait for your mates or maybe a mum with young children in tow... but why anyone would want to spend more time than absolutely necessary in one of these beats me.....
No one has offered "excusado", but I'm sure I saw this on a sign in Yucatan asking you not to throw things in the toilet. (The appliance, not the room ).
I see that CrazyKit is from Canada, so it's unclear whether she meant the room or the porcelain fixture when she said "a toilet." But my impression is the latter. Given that, "baño" is definitely incorrect.
A toilet, I believe, is called a váter or inodoro. But like words for the room, usage probably varies from country to country.
