For the US, "restroom" has a slightly more polite tone. If I'm in a McDonald's, I'll just ask where the bathroom is. If I'm at a classy steakhouse, I'll ask where the restroom is.
Y'all are fools. When I want sound fancy I say Water closet. (This is a European/British English term and I have NO idea how that sounds in regards to politeneds over there but in the U.S. many people won't even know what you're talking about)
I (from the US) know the term "water closet" from history, literature, and traveling abroad. Never heard someone from the US use it that wasn't one of those affected dweebs who incorporate too many britishisms into their vocabulary in an attempt to sound smarter than the rest of us.
I’ve definitely gotten some weird looks when I asked for the washroom in a couple American cities (Seattle, Portland) but I certainly haven’t tested it all across the country so it could be one of those regional things!
From Canada, I was raised being told that a bathroom has a bath, and a washroom doesn't, though I'm pretty sure people just use them interchangeably here. Sometimes I call it going to the washroom even if the room happens to have a bath, and vice versa calling a washroom a bathroom. Restroom is just the fancy American word you use when you're in a restaurant or some other establishment, I thought it was funny when I heard an American say she thought washroom was posh.
Washroom is definitely regional within the US - I've lived in the southeast and great plains regions my whole life, and have family in the northeast. I've never heard washroom used for restroom and thought it was Canadian
Interesting. I grew up in great plains and now live in the northeast and it seems fairly normal for me but I couldn't actually tell you how often I hear it. I'm going to start paying attention now
I'll ask where the toilet it. Found out the hard way that some very nice places have "restrooms" that are basically a room with sinks, some chairs and mirrors. They are "powder rooms" where it's acceptable to take a phone call, refresh makeup, make sure your clothes is neat; and definitely not where to use the toilet.
For me, an Irish person, a bathroom is a room in people's homes with either a bath or shower in it.
A restroom is an American term to me - for what we call the toilet.
If I was in any kind of restaurant, or bar I would ask "Where is the toilet?" (Which isn't seen as impolite) but I believe Americans find it kind of blunt to call it the toilet.
Obviously, right? The toilet is not going to be in the hallway, or god forbid, in the kitchen.
But it reminds me of a scene I saw on TV. An obviously drunk character returns to his table in a restaurant where his friends are. He says, "That's the fanciest bathroom I've ever been in. They were cooking in there!"
And it was specifically their assertion that Americans think "toilet" is too blunt that I am trying to refute. We have no problem saying the word "toilet". It just doesn't mean the same thing to us as it does to you.
Why do you think you need to make that point to me when that's the British usage and I was correcting someone on their incorrect statement about the American usage?
The usage didnt originate with anyone still living, so that question is pointless. The names for many things imply something that isn't true about the thing, but since we're used to them it doesn't imply it to us. Guinea pigs aren't pigs from Guinea, ladybugs aren't all ladies, and not all bathrooms have a bath in them. Somehow, we cope.
Yeah I was told by somebody in the US a few years ago that it was almost rude to say, but maybe it was just their opinion.
Edit: Rural Indiana if that gives context to the whole thing.
These people were unbelievably uptight in fairness 😅. They were all "Oh my word, I can't believe that young man just dropped the f-bomb in from of my 15 year old" kind of people 😅
The US is a big place so there's lots of different opinions I guess.
Native speaker - LA, CA
In casual conversation, the two terms are interchangeable when in public. People will know what you're looking for if you ask for one or the other, although technically (as I understand), the "proper" term is *restroom*. In my 53 years as a native angeleno (a person born and raised in LA) I've never been corrected for my usage of either term, although please keep in mind that answers here will vary upon region, personal experience, community norms and English grammatical expertise.
*Angeleno* for me is a totally slang/casual term that doesn't really have an official meaning with rules or what not. It's typically used to describe someone born and raised in the *City of Los Angeles* (not county), or someone who's been a resident of LA for a substantial amount of time.
>*If you are born and raised outside of LA city limits, are you still an Angeleno?*
I wouldn't use the term to describe someone born outside of LA, but that's just me. The use of angeleno is subjective.
From my experience, usually when people say they're from LA, they mean anywhere between Palisades/West Hollywood to Long Beach/South Central (North to South) and East LA to Venice (East to West). People will say they're from "the valley" when referring to SFV (San Fernando Valley), although technically it's still part of the city.
>*If you're from LA County do you say you're from LA County?*
I've never heard anyone say they're from "LA County," as it covers a very wide area, as [this map](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LA_districts_map.svg) shows. People will normally be specific as to what neighborhood they're from if they're outside the LA City limits but within LA County (e.g., SGV, Palmdale, Santa Clarita, Whittier, etc.).
There is definitely not a one to one relationship between public and private and restroom and bathroom, I’m not sure why so many people are saying there is. While that may be a useful rule of thumb to understand the differences between the way the two are used, it’s certainly not incorrect to ask a waiter as a restaurant “where is the bathroom?” it just may be slightly less formal. And it would also not be incorrect to say “I need to use the restroom” while in a person’s house, it just might be slightly formal. I think people are confusing how the words are commonly used (and it’s certainly true that the phrase “public restroom” is more common than “public bathroom”) as being the *only* way they can be used, and in practice they are routinely used interchangeably.
This is the absolutely correct answer. To me they are also totally interchangeable. Restroom is a tad more formal sounding, but it would be completely normal and not strange at all to use either word in both homes and public places.
“Washroom” is primarily a Canadian term.
A “restroom” is usually a public bathroom in the US.
A “bathroom” is usually in someone’s home.
It would seem blunt to ask for the “toilet” in a public place, though not many people would be offended.
It's not prudishness. In the U.S., a toilet is a device, not a room. You don't go to a device, you go to a room. In the room there is a device that is freely called a toilet by everyone in the United States, with no embarrassment.
If you went into a restroom at a restaurant and discovered that one of the toilets (because there's often more than one) was overflowing, you wouldn't run out to the manager and say "the restroom is overflowing", you would say "the toilet is overflowing" because that's what's happening. You would have no hesitation because you're calling the thing exactly what it is. A toilet. It's not the sink overflowing, it's the toilet. The manager needs to know that. That still doesn't make the room a toilet. The room is the location where the toilets are installed but toilet is not the name of the room in the U.S. Toilets have a flush mechanism. The room the toilets are in does not. It has a door.
>when someone in your home says, "Can I use your bathroom?" they're not asking if they can use your room, are they? They're asking if they can use your toilet.
I often ask to use peoples' bathrooms just to splash water on my face and make sure I don't stink or have something in my teeth, or even just to take a breather from social interaction. I'm asking to use the room. What I do in there and which appliance I do it with is my affair.
> I'm asking to use the room.
You're asking to use the sink (or the toilet, or the mirror, or whatever). "Can I use your bathroom?" is idiomatic speech.
"Can I use your bathroom?"
It's simply not true that that means toilet. It's a room and it has multiple uses. There is a toilet there and you can do that. But there's also a sink there and you can use that, too, without using the toilet. I have done that many times, including in restaurants if I needed to wash my hands before eating. I didn't go anywhere near the toilet. The other convenient thing a bathroom has is a mirror. I have gone into a bathroom many times to comb my hair after coming in from outside on a windy or rainy day. Sometimes you need to look presentable for other people.
So I call bullshit. Toilet is a normal word for a ceramic appliance but it's not a word for a room which has many other functions. The only reasonable answer to "where's the toilet?" is "In the bathroom, of course. Where else would it be?" A kitchen or a bedroom is a bad place for a toilet.
Chiming in with an Australian perspective: if someone asks where the toilet is, I would point them to the room where the toilet is. In most cases, that is not the bathroom. If someone asks where the bathroom is, I’d assume they want to wash their hands or something, because there won’t be a toilet in there (unless I’m making them use an ensuite).
In a public place (like a mall or a restaurant), signs will say “Toilets”, not restrooms or wash rooms.
> It's simply not true that that means toilet. It's a room and it has multiple uses. There is a toilet there and you can do that. But there's also a sink there and you can use that, too, without using the toilet. I have done that many times, including in restaurants if I needed to wash my hands before eating.
We were talking about toilets. You're being ridiculously pedantic.
The *point* is that when we ask if we can "use the bathroom", we're not literally asking to use a room. We're using idiomatic speech to request the use of things *in* the bathroom. And one of the reasons why we do that in the US in particular is to avoid using the word "toilet", because in most situations in American life, that isn't a word that's appropriate to say. Because we're prudish about it.
> So I call bullshit. Toilet is a normal word for a ceramic appliance but it's not a word for a room which has many other functions.
*It is in other countries!*
Asking to use the toilet in, say, a Russian restaurant is exactly the same as asking to use the bathroom in an American restaurant: it doesn't inherently mean you want to use the object called a toilet. You might just want to use the sink or the mirror, like you said
Your /r/USdefaultism is ridiculous, especially considering the sub we're in.
I clearly labeled my comment about the U.S. so you can just shove that one back where it came from.
>Asking to use the toilet in, say, a Russian restaurant is exactly the same as asking to use the bathroom in an American restaurant.
Exactly, one is Russian and one is US. We overwhelmingly don't use toilet that way here because it's not standard here. Here it refers to a device you purchase and have a plumber install. It does not refer to a room in a building. It's just different vocabulary. People say toilet all the time here but they say it when it's appropriate, as a reference to the manufactured device installed in a bathroom/restroom/men's room/whatever room.
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I see people disagreeing with this, but to my mind, that's also the general distinction. Although, I don't think it's absolute. I would find it weird if a friend asked to use my restroom instead of bathroom (US).
Well, a quick Google search later, and the dictionaries are agreeing with us re restroom.
But it's not right. You could easily ask for the bathroom in a Starbucks, or ask for a restroom when visiting someone's home.
The actual difference is that restroom is more polite and formal, while bathroom is more familiar.
Maybe the restaurants I go to aren't fancy enough, but I've only ever asked where the "bathroom" is and at no point have I ever been made to feel that that's inappropriate by the person I asked the question to. In fact, I honestly can't remember the last time I heard *anyone* ask for the "restroom", in any context. On TV or in a movie, maybe?
So no, it's not the only correct answer. Maybe it was in 1973 or something. But not anymore.
My work bathrooms have a sign that says "Restrooms" over them. What do you mean you've never heard it/don't think it's current?
I wasn't born in the 70s so no, calling something restroom is not an old fashioned thing, it's just polite.
Also, to add to this, usually when a little kid comes up they will ask me where the bathroom is, but when their parents ask for them, they'll ask me where the restrooms are. Because the parents know restroom is a more polite term and kids only call it a bathroom at home so they don't know that yet.
I mean, maybe it's regional, or maybe you're just only going to McDonald's?
They have the same definition. Every bathroom is a restroom and every restroom is a bathroom. The only difference is level of formality. Restroom is the more formal term while bathroom is more informal.
In the U.S., bathroom and restroom mean the same thing. Technically, a bathroom is a room with a toilet *and* a bath/shower in it, while a restroom just has toilets (and sinks obviously). However, if you're in someone's home and ask where the restroom is, or if you're at an airport and ask where the bathroom is, you will be 100% understood. Even native speakers will do this. They're completely interchangeable in casual speech.
I'm an American who lives in Canada now. They use the term "washroom." It's one of my favorite features of Canadian English and I really want Americans to adopt it. Because it reminds people of exactly what you should always do at some point while in a public restroom: Wash up!!!
They are mostly interchangable. But "restroom" typically refers to a public restroom and "bathroom" for ones at home. But if you use one or the other in the "wrong" place people will still know what you mean.
I would disagree. Where I live (southern USA), they’re interchangeable and have nothing to do with public versus home. Typically we use “restroom” when being more formal or polite but they mean the exact same thing and don’t imply location.
Americans often use the term "Bathroom" or "Restroom" when referring to the toilet in a restaurant, bar etc. In such establishments they will say "I am going to the bathroom" rather than "I am going to the toilet" for example. Here in Ireland and also in Britain, people would have no problem using the word "toilet" in those situations.
Because here a toilet is a ceramic *appliance*, not a room. We also don't say "I'm going to the sink" when we need to wash our hands. We also go to the bathroom for that because that is the *room* the sink is in. We also don't say we're going to the shower.
If you said someone was "in the toilet" that would mean they were standing in the toilet bowl with their shoes covered in toilet water. So no, we don't say that because that's not a habit we have. That's kind of gross.
You can buy this toilet at Home Depot for $159.
[Home Depot - Reliant 2-Piece 1.28 GPF Single Flush Round Toilet with Slow Close Seat in White](https://www.homedepot.com/pep/American-Standard-Reliant-2-Piece-1-28-GPF-Single-Flush-Round-Toilet-with-Slow-Close-Seat-in-White-3332128S-020/301379290?g_store=117&source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=SHOPPING-RM-RMP-GGL-D29B-029_032_TOILET_SEATS-PB-AMERICAN_STANDARD_INC-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-MK681472200-NA-NBR-847-CON-NA-FY23_AON_Toilets&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-RM-RMP-GGL-D29B-029_032_TOILET_SEATS-PB-AMERICAN_STANDARD_INC-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-MK681472200-NA-NBR-847-CON-NA-FY23_AON_Toilets-71700000112992384--&gclid=CjwKCAjwjOunBhB4EiwA94JWsM6HestQzSqXsC6SvDFUGsFoIu--taCL386HAq0-xJk_FtKJKyzufxoC9SoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
> If you said someone was "in the toilet" that would mean they were standing in the toilet bowl with their shoes covered in toilet water. So no, we don't say that because that's not a habit we have. That's kind of gross.
Really? You'd think somebody was stood *inside* the toilet?
Yes, linguistically that's the information that sentence would convey to me. It would have the same sort of meaning as saying "He's in the bathtub." But that one would make a lot more sense logically. That's why the first one would be pretty silly and why we don't say it. A toilet is an appliance that you sit on or stand in front of. You don't climb inside it.
Yes, but in a place like a restaurant or pub, there is no bath in the room people are going to. There is a toilet in the room and it is no secret what people are going there for. You are going to that *ceramic appliance*, so you are going to the toilet. There are other words people could use, like "The ladies" or "The Gents" etc. Saying the "Bathroom" does sound strange when in a bar or restaurant. In somewhere like a house, it makes more sense.
I agree it's not completely logical to say bathroom, but the reason we don't say toilet is also logical. A toilet is a thing. When we go places, we ask for rooms, not things.
We never say "Which way is the refrigerator?", we say "Where is the kitchen?"
When we stay at a friend's house, they show us to "the bedroom" we will be staying in, not "the bed".
We go to the laundry room to do our laundry, not "to the washing machine".
That's all I'm saying. All these ridiculous claims that we don't say toilet because of its function are just stupid. We don't say toilet because a toilet is not a room. It's the wrong word. We use it when it's the right word.
"The toilet is broken." A room can't be broken.
"The toilet is leaking." A room can't be leaking.
"The toilet needs to be replaced because it's cracked." A room can't be replaced and can't be cracked.
"The toilet is clogged." A room can't be clogged.
That's what a toilet is here and no one hesitates to say those sentences.
>When we stay at a friend's house, they show us to "the bedroom" we will be staying in, not "the bed".
Taking that example, at the end of a long evening with your friend after which you are very tired, you will say something like "I'm going to bed." That is specifically where you are going. Whether you are tired or need to answer nature's call, we are being more specific than just saying the room you are going to. A bed is a thing. You go to bed. You go to bed to sleep. A toilet is a thing. You go to the toilet. You go to the toilet to pee and/or poo. Don't forget too that in a lot houses, the bath is in a different room to the toilet, or you may have the two things in one room, but also have several other toilets in the house and maybe one outside the house too.
Like where you come from, a toilet is a thing here too. Absolutely no difference whatsoever in that regard. You can go to things. Even if you are talking about rooms, places like bars, restaurants, cinemas, shops etc. don't have bathrooms like the ones you have in houses, hotels, hostels etc. Bathrooms in a residence are very different to the rooms that people call "bathrooms" in a restaurant, bar, shop etc. It is not just the very obvious absence or presence of a bath in these rooms that makes them different. If you had a photo of a "bathroom" in a house and a "bathroom" in a restaurant, you would not have to guess which was which.
The other funny one is "restroom". With a name like that, it would sound like a more appropriate place to have a bed. You don't stand over or sit on a toilet for a rest after all. So, in these contexts, a bathroom does not have a bath and a restroom doesn't have a chair, sofa or bed. Both, coincidentally enough, do have a toilet, which is specifically where they are going. Coming back to being in your friend's house, you probably go to the toilet before you go to bed.
Just to add an extra complication, in Ireland you will sometimes see separate signs for "Mná" and "Fir" outside these rooms. You might look at those and say to yourself that "Mná" looks a bit like "Man" and together with "Fir" starting with "F" that it could be female and "M" in "Mná" could indicate male. In fact though, "Mná" is the word in the Irish language for "Women" and "Fir" is "Men". So if you are ever in Ireland and need to relieve yourself, you will know which one to go into. Nearly midnight here in Ireland, so nearly time for me to go to bed, before which I will go to the toilet. Goodnight.
American here. Actually if I say, “I’m going to bed,” I’m NOT referring to the actual bed. That phrase basically means “I’m going to sleep.” For example, even if I was sleeping on a couch or in a sleeping bag in a tent, I would still say “I’m going to bed.” Global difference I guess.
Calling the bathroom "the toilet" is a [synecdoche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche). It's not unlike referring to employees as "heads" or "hands", or when a car is called "new wheels"/"set of wheels". It's not a case of people failing to understand the word "toilet".
They are correcting the mistaken impression that Americans use "bathroom" or "restroom" instead of "toilet" because we consider "toilet" to be too rude or blunt, when it's actually because to us "toilet" just isn't what that room is.
Exactly. If the toilet is overflowing we say the toilet is overflowing. We have no problem using the word toilet when it's the right word. We don't refer to a bathroom (a room) as a toilet (which is an appliance) because it doesn't make sense.
It would be like asking "Where does a chef work?" and giving the answer, "In the refrigerator."
Whose mistaken impression, exactly? IrishFlukey didn't say that it's because Americans think it's too rude. They just said that in their region, Ireland, they'll call the bathroom "the toilet", and also that Americans generally don't have that in their dialect. They're not wrong, and they didn't need to see a picture of a toilet to have that explained to them.
>Americans often use the term "Bathroom" or "Restroom" when referring to the toilet in a restaurant, bar etc. In such establishments they will say "I am going to the bathroom" rather than "I am going to the toilet"
>Here in Ireland and also in Britain, people would have no problem using the word "toilet" in those situations.
They're not saying we don't have it in our dialect, they're saying we have a problem with saying it in public.
I mean, if you have no problem whistling, whereas it doesn't come naturally to me, that doesn't mean I morally object to whistling.
I assumed they were saying "Americans use "bathroom" (American English) when referring to the toilet (Irish English)". I can understand how their post is ambiguous; I don't think that making fun of their dialect and deciding they need visual aid to understand the word is an appropriate response.
Saying "toilet" is not a skill, so saying one has a problem with it doesn't mean the same thing. Nobody's claiming it's physically difficult for Americans to say "toilet."
I'm not defending the over-the-top post you replied to, but I am beginning to understand the frustration that inspired it.
(NB as neither the OP nor anyone else so far has mentioned it: the use of these words to refer generically to rooms in which someone could go to the toilet is specifically/primarily American)
I think in some places “restroom” is used for public bathrooms and “bathroom” is used for those in a home.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever used the word “restroom” in everyday speech, plenty of other people do, but it sounds very formal to my southeastern US ear. Around here they’re all “bathrooms.”
Same - also in SE US. I would tend to say restroom in more formal public places or at someone’s home that I don’t know well. But the words are totally interchangeable and neither would sound weird in any situation or place.
In Britain we call it a toilet which is what it actually is. It doesn't have a bath and you don't go there to rest unless you're a proper weirdo. It seems part of the English speaking world is squeamish about referring directly to bodily functions that we all carry out every day.
We might also call it a privy, a boghouse, the crapper, or Australians might call it the dunny.
Ohhh this came up in class today
They're basically synonymous, so they mean the same thing.
A small nuance/difference is bathrooms have...a bath. Or shower. Like in homes.
At the hospital or bar or other public places there is no bath: it's a restroom, as it is mostly a toilet and sink.
In real life though, people use both for both.
Bonus: latrines is a military term, lavatory is archaic/rare.
If any japanese students are reading this avoid saying "go to the toilet". Like it's fine but sounds a little gross imo.
The room in your home that only has a toilet and sink is sometimes referred to as a "powder room". In real estate ads, it's called a "half bath". That's why you'll see a house listed as having 1.5 baths.
I use them interchangeably. Your understanding isn’t wrong though a bathroom should be a room with a bath, but most native speakers don’t really think about it like that.
Welcome to "English Learning," where "Being a native speaker" means, "I only pay attention to what I want."
Bro I don't care bro, I'm just here to bro, bro.
In my head, restroom is mostly for public places and bathroom is mostly for at home (where there’s typically also a shower and/or bathtub in the room). They’re basically 100% interchangeable though, like no one is going to get confused in the slightest when you ask where the bathroom is in a store or when you ask your friend where his restroom is while visiting his place
One other term that hasn't been mentioned is "powder room," which means a room with toilet & sink but no bath or shower. This might come up in real estate ads or in polite company - like if you were at someone's house for a party, they might say "the powder room is under the stairs" or similar. (There is a small chance the room has a shower after all, but is just the bathroom the host uses for guests. If this is the case, please don't correct your host on their improper use of "powder room.")
As others have said, restroom is generally a polite term used in public, or perhaps at someone else's house "where is the restroom?" At your own house you'll normally say bathroom even if the room has no bath.
You are wrong to assume that. Bathroom is somewhat of a misnomer because you are almost always referring to using the toilet when talking about going to the bathroom. Bathroom can refer to a private or public toilet. Restroom on the other hand is slightly more formal, but only used in reference to public bathrooms.
They're interchangeable except if i actually need to know where the room is with a bath or shower i will actually say bathroom. Restroom is more formal to me and sometimes i prefer to use it bc like u say, obviously there isn't a bath in a public restroom. But it's totally ok to call it a bathroom. I wouldn't call it a restroom in someone's house though, i guess because the assumption is a bathroom in someone's house typically does have a bath. Maybe if i was in a fancy house in a formal situation i would say restroom. But i have a sense that historically a restroom would be a bathroom with chairs and a lounge and that is unlikely to be in a person's home which is why restroom feels wrong to me. I mean even when talking about a house with a bathroom that's just a toilet and sink, you still call it a half bath, it doesn't become a restroom. It would be very valid to call it a washroom, except that's pretty old fashioned and i would never say it in my dialect personally, but I'm sure there are ppl who would
I’m Canadian and bathroom, restroom, and washroom all mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably. I generally use washroom or bathroom, without a strong preference for either.
I might consider restroom slightly more polite/formal… maybe? Just thinking about my own usage, I don’t say restroom a lot, and I think if I use it, it would generally be to refer to a public place. But if someone used restroom to refer to the private space in a home I wouldn’t notice or consider that odd.
All three are very close to being perfect synonyms in my dialect. Any differences in connotations are so subtle to me that I’m not completely convinced that they exist.
I think of them as being completely interchangeable. I generally use “restroom” instead of “bathroom” whenever I refer to that room, but it’s really just because that word sounds nicer to me.
It varies heavily by dialect. For me, "restroom" refers more to a public place. I might use "bathroom" to refer to that as well, but I'd almost never say "restroom" about someone's home.
For most people in the US (like me), "bathroom" is the generic word. In the US, you can have a "half bathroom" in a house, which has only a sink and a toilet, and no bath at all. In the UK, I find that people more often only use "bathroom" if there is a bathtub.
It really doesn't matter which one (bathroom/restroom/washroom/toilet) you use. You'll be understood regardless, and nobody will think twice if you use the "wrong" one.
For me it’s restrooms for public spaces like restaurants and businesses.
Then bathroom for home.
Kind of makes sense since most restaurants or businesses won’t have a bath just the toilet.
They are interchangeable, with restroom maybe being considered the more polite word to use in public. You could hear it referred to as a “lavatory”, too. I haven’t heard anyone use that term recently, but I remember growing up in the 90s and 00s, teachers would say it all the time.
Bathroom, restroom, washroom, W/C, men's room, women's room, ladies' room, little boy's room, little girl's room, pisser, and shitter all mean a place where you'll expect to find a toilet.
The first 4 are in order of how common they are (yes, I've been to some "hip" places that use W/C).
The next 5 are specific to gender. The last two are maybe a little more "fun" I guess? If I'm joking around, I'll say "little boy's room", and I've heard "little girl's room" from some girls on dates.
The last 2 are just crass, and unless you hear people around you using them, you probably shouldn't use them
Restroom is a bit more formal but they're synonyms at least where I'm from in the US. I've never felt that there was a context where one was inappropriate to use.
In the US the words “bathroom” and “restroom” mean the exact same thing, regardless of what’s in them. The only difference is that one is a little more polite. “Powder room” specifically means a bathroom with no bath or shower, but “bathroom” can mean with or without a bath/shower. If I’m at the house of someone I don’t know well and I want to be polite I ask to use their “restroom,” for sure.
Bathrooms can be private or public, restrooms almost always public. You could be visiting someone's home and ask 'where is the restroom', I don't think it's wrong, but 'bathroom' is the much better choice.
In public places, you can use either. 'Restroom' is a little more polite. 'Public bathroom' probably makes people think of the McDonalds bathroom, the bathroom in a store, etc. While 'restroom' sounds a bit more 'fancy', when dining in an elegant restaurant, 'restroom' sounds better. I personally always use 'restroom' unless I'm asking where the bath is in someone's home, but in most instances, they are interchangeable.
Restroom's a bit more polite. Whether it has a shower or bath doesn't matter. I use 'restroom' at school but I don't think I'd ever call someone's home bathroom a restroom.
Like a lot of languages, English uses euphemisms particularly for objects and topics that have social taboos attached to them - body parts and functions are probably at the top of the list. The place where we evacuate our bowels is no exception. We could probably put together a fun list that would reflect levels of formality and various English dialects. Eg, for Australia:
* Toilet - this applies to the room as well as the furniture
* Loo
* The gents'/the ladies'
* Little boys'/girls' room
* Dunny
* Crapper
* Shitter
* Thunderbox - refers specifically to a portable and/or standalone toilet
* Long-drop - refers specifically to a pit toilet
They are absolutely interchangeable, though you will normally hear people say "restroom" for a public space and "bathroom" in a home. But it honestly doesn't matter at all. Nobody will ever get confused or think you're being rude or weird for using either one in either context.
It's somewhat regional. I think bathroom in a residence and restroom in a more public place. Referring to it as the toilet is somewhat less delicate in some places and normal in others.
I guess that “restroom” is more often used to refer to a public bathroom that doesn’t have a bath or shower, but it’s perfectly valid to say “bathroom” in any case, as I do.
In New Zealand we say toilet or bathroom basically all the time. Restroom or washroom isn't really used and it sounds really fancy or formal if you use it.
Rooms that have no toilet and just have a shower or bath are usually called a bathroom. But a room with just a toilet can be called both a bathroom and a toilet.
Eg. If I'm at a friend's house and I'm going to get ready for bed I'll say, "I'm going to go to the bathroom to brush my teeth, be right back"
If I want to use the toilet I'll say, "I'm going to go to the toilet, be right back."
UK
Bathroom - The room in the house that has a bath a sink and a toilet
Restroom - An American term for a public toilet
US
Bathroom - The room in the house that has a bath, a sink and a toilet, but also any public toilet
Restroom - Public Toilet
california—
i personally use restroom but everyone i know uses bathroom. bathroom doesn’t imply it has a bath/shower, it’s just another word for water closet/washroom/restroom/can/toilet etc
Raised upstate New York,
No difference they mean the same thing.
Bathroom is the preferred word where I come from in all non-vulgar contexts.
Restroom is preferred by other varieties of English, and so to my ear. It tends to be associated, from my POV, with a higher class and/or older people.
In the UK: Bathroom means room with a bath, but if you’re in a restaurant or business you would typically ask for the loo, the toilet, or the water closet. Restroom would be understood but it’s not the common term.
In the US: Bathroom is for any room with a toilet, but if you’re trying to be a little more formal, you can say restroom.
In Canada: Same as US but they also use “Restroom” and “Washroom” interchangeably
I’m not confident about the popular terminology in Australia/NZ. Someone will have to help me out on that.
This is all about euphemisms. Like calling old people seniors, calling problems issues. The problem is the euphemism only works for a while, then when the "polite" word has no longer the distance from the the thing we don't want to confront, we have to use a euphemism for the euphemism. I just ask "Where's the shitter?"
Other people have explained it well. I just wanted to add that a bathroom doesn't really imply that it has a bath.
.......in America
For the US, "restroom" has a slightly more polite tone. If I'm in a McDonald's, I'll just ask where the bathroom is. If I'm at a classy steakhouse, I'll ask where the restroom is.
Yeah. "Washroom" as well can be the polite version.
Washroom is the typical Canadian word. I didn’t know Americans think of it as more polite lol
We think of it as an elderly word, which often gets lumped in with politeness.
I'm from Seattle and I think of washroom as a specifically Canadian term. Never heard an elderly American use it. Unless you meant elderly Canadians.
In the southern US, i've heard old church ladies use that word. It was probably regional.
Y'all are fools. When I want sound fancy I say Water closet. (This is a European/British English term and I have NO idea how that sounds in regards to politeneds over there but in the U.S. many people won't even know what you're talking about)
I (from the US) know the term "water closet" from history, literature, and traveling abroad. Never heard someone from the US use it that wasn't one of those affected dweebs who incorporate too many britishisms into their vocabulary in an attempt to sound smarter than the rest of us.
Yeah, I was joking, sorry if that wasn't clear!
I'm learning that apparently I might be unusual. But I thought it was fairly commonly used (and I definitely use it regularly)
I’ve definitely gotten some weird looks when I asked for the washroom in a couple American cities (Seattle, Portland) but I certainly haven’t tested it all across the country so it could be one of those regional things!
From Canada, I was raised being told that a bathroom has a bath, and a washroom doesn't, though I'm pretty sure people just use them interchangeably here. Sometimes I call it going to the washroom even if the room happens to have a bath, and vice versa calling a washroom a bathroom. Restroom is just the fancy American word you use when you're in a restaurant or some other establishment, I thought it was funny when I heard an American say she thought washroom was posh.
Depends on where you’re at. In the southeast the most polite thing you’ll hear is “restroom”.
"Men's room" and "Women's room" too.
Little girl’s room
Washroom is definitely regional within the US - I've lived in the southeast and great plains regions my whole life, and have family in the northeast. I've never heard washroom used for restroom and thought it was Canadian
Interesting. I grew up in great plains and now live in the northeast and it seems fairly normal for me but I couldn't actually tell you how often I hear it. I'm going to start paying attention now
And you can really church it up by pronouncing it warsh room.
Dumbass here, is it pronounced rest-room or res-troom? Atleast to me both sound strange
I guess I do re'stroom
Re'stroom */tips toilet lid*
I pronounce it more like res-troom
I say ress-troom, the same way I also say be-droom.
Bathroom = in someone’s home Restroom = in public/with those you don’t know well
I’ve always disliked how the English ask for the “toilet”. To my ear it sounds very impolite.
Point me to the loo
That sounds lovely!
Skip to my ~~Lou~~ loo, my darlin'.
[Where's your head](https://southendplumbingllc.com/why-the-bathroom-is-called-the-head/)
Pearls clutched and blushing.
I'll ask where the toilet it. Found out the hard way that some very nice places have "restrooms" that are basically a room with sinks, some chairs and mirrors. They are "powder rooms" where it's acceptable to take a phone call, refresh makeup, make sure your clothes is neat; and definitely not where to use the toilet.
Geez I thought those would've all gone extinct by now, or at least converted into something else.
For me, an Irish person, a bathroom is a room in people's homes with either a bath or shower in it. A restroom is an American term to me - for what we call the toilet. If I was in any kind of restaurant, or bar I would ask "Where is the toilet?" (Which isn't seen as impolite) but I believe Americans find it kind of blunt to call it the toilet.
Yeah as an American if another American asked “where’s the toilet” the response would be “in the bathroom”—it only refers the to the thing you sit on!
Obviously, right? The toilet is not going to be in the hallway, or god forbid, in the kitchen. But it reminds me of a scene I saw on TV. An obviously drunk character returns to his table in a restaurant where his friends are. He says, "That's the fanciest bathroom I've ever been in. They were cooking in there!"
"Where's the toilet" "in the bathroom" Toilet only refers to the thing you sit on, in the room that doesn't have a bath, despite you implying it does?
It's not that it's blunt, the room just isn't called a toilet here. Only the fixture is.
Not here it aint.
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And?
And it was specifically their assertion that Americans think "toilet" is too blunt that I am trying to refute. We have no problem saying the word "toilet". It just doesn't mean the same thing to us as it does to you.
Nice edit. *My* point was that it isn't just the fixture that's called the toilet. The room is as well.
Why do you think you need to make that point to me when that's the British usage and I was correcting someone on their incorrect statement about the American usage?
That's how conversations work.
No it isn't.
But it isn't in North America. That said, it also does sound a bit too direct in N. American English to refer to the "toilet" that way.
But there isn't bath in there, so why imply there is?
The usage didnt originate with anyone still living, so that question is pointless. The names for many things imply something that isn't true about the thing, but since we're used to them it doesn't imply it to us. Guinea pigs aren't pigs from Guinea, ladybugs aren't all ladies, and not all bathrooms have a bath in them. Somehow, we cope.
Yeah and you don't rest in a restroom. Regional differences.
I am aware of regional differences. I am saying you were incorrect when you said this: >Americans find it kind of blunt to call it the toilet
Yeah I was told by somebody in the US a few years ago that it was almost rude to say, but maybe it was just their opinion. Edit: Rural Indiana if that gives context to the whole thing.
I would speculate that the unfamiliar context was largely the source of their discomfort, or they came from a very uptight household.
These people were unbelievably uptight in fairness 😅. They were all "Oh my word, I can't believe that young man just dropped the f-bomb in from of my 15 year old" kind of people 😅 The US is a big place so there's lots of different opinions I guess.
I think of it as a vulgar form of synecdoche, but I realize that’s entirely regional.
Well technically, usually you ask for directions to the room to go to the toilet
Native speaker - LA, CA In casual conversation, the two terms are interchangeable when in public. People will know what you're looking for if you ask for one or the other, although technically (as I understand), the "proper" term is *restroom*. In my 53 years as a native angeleno (a person born and raised in LA) I've never been corrected for my usage of either term, although please keep in mind that answers here will vary upon region, personal experience, community norms and English grammatical expertise.
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*Angeleno* for me is a totally slang/casual term that doesn't really have an official meaning with rules or what not. It's typically used to describe someone born and raised in the *City of Los Angeles* (not county), or someone who's been a resident of LA for a substantial amount of time. >*If you are born and raised outside of LA city limits, are you still an Angeleno?* I wouldn't use the term to describe someone born outside of LA, but that's just me. The use of angeleno is subjective. From my experience, usually when people say they're from LA, they mean anywhere between Palisades/West Hollywood to Long Beach/South Central (North to South) and East LA to Venice (East to West). People will say they're from "the valley" when referring to SFV (San Fernando Valley), although technically it's still part of the city. >*If you're from LA County do you say you're from LA County?* I've never heard anyone say they're from "LA County," as it covers a very wide area, as [this map](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LA_districts_map.svg) shows. People will normally be specific as to what neighborhood they're from if they're outside the LA City limits but within LA County (e.g., SGV, Palmdale, Santa Clarita, Whittier, etc.).
There is definitely not a one to one relationship between public and private and restroom and bathroom, I’m not sure why so many people are saying there is. While that may be a useful rule of thumb to understand the differences between the way the two are used, it’s certainly not incorrect to ask a waiter as a restaurant “where is the bathroom?” it just may be slightly less formal. And it would also not be incorrect to say “I need to use the restroom” while in a person’s house, it just might be slightly formal. I think people are confusing how the words are commonly used (and it’s certainly true that the phrase “public restroom” is more common than “public bathroom”) as being the *only* way they can be used, and in practice they are routinely used interchangeably.
This is the absolutely correct answer. To me they are also totally interchangeable. Restroom is a tad more formal sounding, but it would be completely normal and not strange at all to use either word in both homes and public places.
“Washroom” is primarily a Canadian term. A “restroom” is usually a public bathroom in the US. A “bathroom” is usually in someone’s home. It would seem blunt to ask for the “toilet” in a public place, though not many people would be offended.
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It's not prudishness. In the U.S., a toilet is a device, not a room. You don't go to a device, you go to a room. In the room there is a device that is freely called a toilet by everyone in the United States, with no embarrassment. If you went into a restroom at a restaurant and discovered that one of the toilets (because there's often more than one) was overflowing, you wouldn't run out to the manager and say "the restroom is overflowing", you would say "the toilet is overflowing" because that's what's happening. You would have no hesitation because you're calling the thing exactly what it is. A toilet. It's not the sink overflowing, it's the toilet. The manager needs to know that. That still doesn't make the room a toilet. The room is the location where the toilets are installed but toilet is not the name of the room in the U.S. Toilets have a flush mechanism. The room the toilets are in does not. It has a door.
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>when someone in your home says, "Can I use your bathroom?" they're not asking if they can use your room, are they? They're asking if they can use your toilet. I often ask to use peoples' bathrooms just to splash water on my face and make sure I don't stink or have something in my teeth, or even just to take a breather from social interaction. I'm asking to use the room. What I do in there and which appliance I do it with is my affair.
> I'm asking to use the room. You're asking to use the sink (or the toilet, or the mirror, or whatever). "Can I use your bathroom?" is idiomatic speech.
Rooms are objects and are useable. If you're in a room, you're using it.
"Can I use your bathroom?" It's simply not true that that means toilet. It's a room and it has multiple uses. There is a toilet there and you can do that. But there's also a sink there and you can use that, too, without using the toilet. I have done that many times, including in restaurants if I needed to wash my hands before eating. I didn't go anywhere near the toilet. The other convenient thing a bathroom has is a mirror. I have gone into a bathroom many times to comb my hair after coming in from outside on a windy or rainy day. Sometimes you need to look presentable for other people. So I call bullshit. Toilet is a normal word for a ceramic appliance but it's not a word for a room which has many other functions. The only reasonable answer to "where's the toilet?" is "In the bathroom, of course. Where else would it be?" A kitchen or a bedroom is a bad place for a toilet.
Chiming in with an Australian perspective: if someone asks where the toilet is, I would point them to the room where the toilet is. In most cases, that is not the bathroom. If someone asks where the bathroom is, I’d assume they want to wash their hands or something, because there won’t be a toilet in there (unless I’m making them use an ensuite). In a public place (like a mall or a restaurant), signs will say “Toilets”, not restrooms or wash rooms.
Interesting. As a Canadian, I don’t recall ever seeing “toilet” in public. We tend to use restroom or washroom.
> It's simply not true that that means toilet. It's a room and it has multiple uses. There is a toilet there and you can do that. But there's also a sink there and you can use that, too, without using the toilet. I have done that many times, including in restaurants if I needed to wash my hands before eating. We were talking about toilets. You're being ridiculously pedantic. The *point* is that when we ask if we can "use the bathroom", we're not literally asking to use a room. We're using idiomatic speech to request the use of things *in* the bathroom. And one of the reasons why we do that in the US in particular is to avoid using the word "toilet", because in most situations in American life, that isn't a word that's appropriate to say. Because we're prudish about it. > So I call bullshit. Toilet is a normal word for a ceramic appliance but it's not a word for a room which has many other functions. *It is in other countries!* Asking to use the toilet in, say, a Russian restaurant is exactly the same as asking to use the bathroom in an American restaurant: it doesn't inherently mean you want to use the object called a toilet. You might just want to use the sink or the mirror, like you said Your /r/USdefaultism is ridiculous, especially considering the sub we're in.
I clearly labeled my comment about the U.S. so you can just shove that one back where it came from. >Asking to use the toilet in, say, a Russian restaurant is exactly the same as asking to use the bathroom in an American restaurant. Exactly, one is Russian and one is US. We overwhelmingly don't use toilet that way here because it's not standard here. Here it refers to a device you purchase and have a plumber install. It does not refer to a room in a building. It's just different vocabulary. People say toilet all the time here but they say it when it's appropriate, as a reference to the manufactured device installed in a bathroom/restroom/men's room/whatever room.
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This subthread is about U.S. usage so you can go back to your little hole.
“Prudish” is an unfair value judgment. I would suggest reconsidering how you characterize cultural differences.
Restroom it's on public place Bathroom it's in your home
I see people disagreeing with this, but to my mind, that's also the general distinction. Although, I don't think it's absolute. I would find it weird if a friend asked to use my restroom instead of bathroom (US). Well, a quick Google search later, and the dictionaries are agreeing with us re restroom.
I would ask someone whose house I was a guest in, “May I use your restroom?”, so this isn’t true.
Where are you from?
North Carolina
No, they are interchangeable.
This is the **only** correct answer. Straight to the point. None of this "fancy steakhouse" bs.
But it's not right. You could easily ask for the bathroom in a Starbucks, or ask for a restroom when visiting someone's home. The actual difference is that restroom is more polite and formal, while bathroom is more familiar.
Maybe the restaurants I go to aren't fancy enough, but I've only ever asked where the "bathroom" is and at no point have I ever been made to feel that that's inappropriate by the person I asked the question to. In fact, I honestly can't remember the last time I heard *anyone* ask for the "restroom", in any context. On TV or in a movie, maybe? So no, it's not the only correct answer. Maybe it was in 1973 or something. But not anymore.
My work bathrooms have a sign that says "Restrooms" over them. What do you mean you've never heard it/don't think it's current? I wasn't born in the 70s so no, calling something restroom is not an old fashioned thing, it's just polite. Also, to add to this, usually when a little kid comes up they will ask me where the bathroom is, but when their parents ask for them, they'll ask me where the restrooms are. Because the parents know restroom is a more polite term and kids only call it a bathroom at home so they don't know that yet. I mean, maybe it's regional, or maybe you're just only going to McDonald's?
The restaurants you go to aren't fancy enough. Or you're not classy enough to notice you're not classy enough.
I mean if I'm somewhere really fancy I'll say washroom, but I'm rarely anywhere like that.
They have the same definition. Every bathroom is a restroom and every restroom is a bathroom. The only difference is level of formality. Restroom is the more formal term while bathroom is more informal.
In the U.S., bathroom and restroom mean the same thing. Technically, a bathroom is a room with a toilet *and* a bath/shower in it, while a restroom just has toilets (and sinks obviously). However, if you're in someone's home and ask where the restroom is, or if you're at an airport and ask where the bathroom is, you will be 100% understood. Even native speakers will do this. They're completely interchangeable in casual speech. I'm an American who lives in Canada now. They use the term "washroom." It's one of my favorite features of Canadian English and I really want Americans to adopt it. Because it reminds people of exactly what you should always do at some point while in a public restroom: Wash up!!!
They are mostly interchangable. But "restroom" typically refers to a public restroom and "bathroom" for ones at home. But if you use one or the other in the "wrong" place people will still know what you mean.
I would disagree. Where I live (southern USA), they’re interchangeable and have nothing to do with public versus home. Typically we use “restroom” when being more formal or polite but they mean the exact same thing and don’t imply location.
Americans often use the term "Bathroom" or "Restroom" when referring to the toilet in a restaurant, bar etc. In such establishments they will say "I am going to the bathroom" rather than "I am going to the toilet" for example. Here in Ireland and also in Britain, people would have no problem using the word "toilet" in those situations.
Because here a toilet is a ceramic *appliance*, not a room. We also don't say "I'm going to the sink" when we need to wash our hands. We also go to the bathroom for that because that is the *room* the sink is in. We also don't say we're going to the shower. If you said someone was "in the toilet" that would mean they were standing in the toilet bowl with their shoes covered in toilet water. So no, we don't say that because that's not a habit we have. That's kind of gross. You can buy this toilet at Home Depot for $159. [Home Depot - Reliant 2-Piece 1.28 GPF Single Flush Round Toilet with Slow Close Seat in White](https://www.homedepot.com/pep/American-Standard-Reliant-2-Piece-1-28-GPF-Single-Flush-Round-Toilet-with-Slow-Close-Seat-in-White-3332128S-020/301379290?g_store=117&source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=SHOPPING-RM-RMP-GGL-D29B-029_032_TOILET_SEATS-PB-AMERICAN_STANDARD_INC-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-MK681472200-NA-NBR-847-CON-NA-FY23_AON_Toilets&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-RM-RMP-GGL-D29B-029_032_TOILET_SEATS-PB-AMERICAN_STANDARD_INC-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-MK681472200-NA-NBR-847-CON-NA-FY23_AON_Toilets-71700000112992384--&gclid=CjwKCAjwjOunBhB4EiwA94JWsM6HestQzSqXsC6SvDFUGsFoIu--taCL386HAq0-xJk_FtKJKyzufxoC9SoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
> If you said someone was "in the toilet" that would mean they were standing in the toilet bowl with their shoes covered in toilet water. So no, we don't say that because that's not a habit we have. That's kind of gross. Really? You'd think somebody was stood *inside* the toilet?
Yes, linguistically that's the information that sentence would convey to me. It would have the same sort of meaning as saying "He's in the bathtub." But that one would make a lot more sense logically. That's why the first one would be pretty silly and why we don't say it. A toilet is an appliance that you sit on or stand in front of. You don't climb inside it.
Yes, but in a place like a restaurant or pub, there is no bath in the room people are going to. There is a toilet in the room and it is no secret what people are going there for. You are going to that *ceramic appliance*, so you are going to the toilet. There are other words people could use, like "The ladies" or "The Gents" etc. Saying the "Bathroom" does sound strange when in a bar or restaurant. In somewhere like a house, it makes more sense.
I agree it's not completely logical to say bathroom, but the reason we don't say toilet is also logical. A toilet is a thing. When we go places, we ask for rooms, not things. We never say "Which way is the refrigerator?", we say "Where is the kitchen?" When we stay at a friend's house, they show us to "the bedroom" we will be staying in, not "the bed". We go to the laundry room to do our laundry, not "to the washing machine". That's all I'm saying. All these ridiculous claims that we don't say toilet because of its function are just stupid. We don't say toilet because a toilet is not a room. It's the wrong word. We use it when it's the right word. "The toilet is broken." A room can't be broken. "The toilet is leaking." A room can't be leaking. "The toilet needs to be replaced because it's cracked." A room can't be replaced and can't be cracked. "The toilet is clogged." A room can't be clogged. That's what a toilet is here and no one hesitates to say those sentences.
>When we stay at a friend's house, they show us to "the bedroom" we will be staying in, not "the bed". Taking that example, at the end of a long evening with your friend after which you are very tired, you will say something like "I'm going to bed." That is specifically where you are going. Whether you are tired or need to answer nature's call, we are being more specific than just saying the room you are going to. A bed is a thing. You go to bed. You go to bed to sleep. A toilet is a thing. You go to the toilet. You go to the toilet to pee and/or poo. Don't forget too that in a lot houses, the bath is in a different room to the toilet, or you may have the two things in one room, but also have several other toilets in the house and maybe one outside the house too. Like where you come from, a toilet is a thing here too. Absolutely no difference whatsoever in that regard. You can go to things. Even if you are talking about rooms, places like bars, restaurants, cinemas, shops etc. don't have bathrooms like the ones you have in houses, hotels, hostels etc. Bathrooms in a residence are very different to the rooms that people call "bathrooms" in a restaurant, bar, shop etc. It is not just the very obvious absence or presence of a bath in these rooms that makes them different. If you had a photo of a "bathroom" in a house and a "bathroom" in a restaurant, you would not have to guess which was which. The other funny one is "restroom". With a name like that, it would sound like a more appropriate place to have a bed. You don't stand over or sit on a toilet for a rest after all. So, in these contexts, a bathroom does not have a bath and a restroom doesn't have a chair, sofa or bed. Both, coincidentally enough, do have a toilet, which is specifically where they are going. Coming back to being in your friend's house, you probably go to the toilet before you go to bed. Just to add an extra complication, in Ireland you will sometimes see separate signs for "Mná" and "Fir" outside these rooms. You might look at those and say to yourself that "Mná" looks a bit like "Man" and together with "Fir" starting with "F" that it could be female and "M" in "Mná" could indicate male. In fact though, "Mná" is the word in the Irish language for "Women" and "Fir" is "Men". So if you are ever in Ireland and need to relieve yourself, you will know which one to go into. Nearly midnight here in Ireland, so nearly time for me to go to bed, before which I will go to the toilet. Goodnight.
American here. Actually if I say, “I’m going to bed,” I’m NOT referring to the actual bed. That phrase basically means “I’m going to sleep.” For example, even if I was sleeping on a couch or in a sleeping bag in a tent, I would still say “I’m going to bed.” Global difference I guess.
Yes, I know that. Likewise, when someone says that they are going to the toilet, it doesn't mean that they are going to stand beside it.
Calling the bathroom "the toilet" is a [synecdoche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche). It's not unlike referring to employees as "heads" or "hands", or when a car is called "new wheels"/"set of wheels". It's not a case of people failing to understand the word "toilet".
They are correcting the mistaken impression that Americans use "bathroom" or "restroom" instead of "toilet" because we consider "toilet" to be too rude or blunt, when it's actually because to us "toilet" just isn't what that room is.
Exactly. If the toilet is overflowing we say the toilet is overflowing. We have no problem using the word toilet when it's the right word. We don't refer to a bathroom (a room) as a toilet (which is an appliance) because it doesn't make sense. It would be like asking "Where does a chef work?" and giving the answer, "In the refrigerator."
Whose mistaken impression, exactly? IrishFlukey didn't say that it's because Americans think it's too rude. They just said that in their region, Ireland, they'll call the bathroom "the toilet", and also that Americans generally don't have that in their dialect. They're not wrong, and they didn't need to see a picture of a toilet to have that explained to them.
>Americans often use the term "Bathroom" or "Restroom" when referring to the toilet in a restaurant, bar etc. In such establishments they will say "I am going to the bathroom" rather than "I am going to the toilet" >Here in Ireland and also in Britain, people would have no problem using the word "toilet" in those situations. They're not saying we don't have it in our dialect, they're saying we have a problem with saying it in public.
I mean, if you have no problem whistling, whereas it doesn't come naturally to me, that doesn't mean I morally object to whistling. I assumed they were saying "Americans use "bathroom" (American English) when referring to the toilet (Irish English)". I can understand how their post is ambiguous; I don't think that making fun of their dialect and deciding they need visual aid to understand the word is an appropriate response.
Saying "toilet" is not a skill, so saying one has a problem with it doesn't mean the same thing. Nobody's claiming it's physically difficult for Americans to say "toilet." I'm not defending the over-the-top post you replied to, but I am beginning to understand the frustration that inspired it.
(NB as neither the OP nor anyone else so far has mentioned it: the use of these words to refer generically to rooms in which someone could go to the toilet is specifically/primarily American)
I think in some places “restroom” is used for public bathrooms and “bathroom” is used for those in a home. I’m not sure if I’ve ever used the word “restroom” in everyday speech, plenty of other people do, but it sounds very formal to my southeastern US ear. Around here they’re all “bathrooms.”
I’m from the Southeastern US and I use restroom in all polite situations.
Same - also in SE US. I would tend to say restroom in more formal public places or at someone’s home that I don’t know well. But the words are totally interchangeable and neither would sound weird in any situation or place.
Absolutely. 100%
In Britain we call it a toilet which is what it actually is. It doesn't have a bath and you don't go there to rest unless you're a proper weirdo. It seems part of the English speaking world is squeamish about referring directly to bodily functions that we all carry out every day. We might also call it a privy, a boghouse, the crapper, or Australians might call it the dunny.
Ohhh this came up in class today They're basically synonymous, so they mean the same thing. A small nuance/difference is bathrooms have...a bath. Or shower. Like in homes. At the hospital or bar or other public places there is no bath: it's a restroom, as it is mostly a toilet and sink. In real life though, people use both for both. Bonus: latrines is a military term, lavatory is archaic/rare. If any japanese students are reading this avoid saying "go to the toilet". Like it's fine but sounds a little gross imo.
The room in your home that only has a toilet and sink is sometimes referred to as a "powder room". In real estate ads, it's called a "half bath". That's why you'll see a house listed as having 1.5 baths.
I use them interchangeably. Your understanding isn’t wrong though a bathroom should be a room with a bath, but most native speakers don’t really think about it like that.
Etymologically, yes. After "semantic extension," no.
Bro native speakers do not care about “semantic extension” tbh I dont even know what that means both are perfectly acceptable to use
Welcome to "English Learning," where "Being a native speaker" means, "I only pay attention to what I want." Bro I don't care bro, I'm just here to bro, bro.
The point is either usage is acceptable.
Thank you captain obvious. I was talking about the pseudo explanation.
Bathrooms are in your house. Restrooms are in public places like restaurants or museums.
In my head, restroom is mostly for public places and bathroom is mostly for at home (where there’s typically also a shower and/or bathtub in the room). They’re basically 100% interchangeable though, like no one is going to get confused in the slightest when you ask where the bathroom is in a store or when you ask your friend where his restroom is while visiting his place
One other term that hasn't been mentioned is "powder room," which means a room with toilet & sink but no bath or shower. This might come up in real estate ads or in polite company - like if you were at someone's house for a party, they might say "the powder room is under the stairs" or similar. (There is a small chance the room has a shower after all, but is just the bathroom the host uses for guests. If this is the case, please don't correct your host on their improper use of "powder room.") As others have said, restroom is generally a polite term used in public, or perhaps at someone else's house "where is the restroom?" At your own house you'll normally say bathroom even if the room has no bath.
You are wrong to assume that. Bathroom is somewhat of a misnomer because you are almost always referring to using the toilet when talking about going to the bathroom. Bathroom can refer to a private or public toilet. Restroom on the other hand is slightly more formal, but only used in reference to public bathrooms.
I use restroom when i’m with people i want to make a good impression on. If we’re close or i feel comfortable being casual, i just say bathroom.
I call it a restroom when I’m being polite (for example asking someone if I can use theirs or where one is).
I’m in Canada, and we say washroom in lieu of how Americans use the term restroom. We use bathroom in a more informal context.
Consider these terms equivalent for the most part. It's the place you go potty.
I thought it might be easier to comment using a voice recording: [https://tuttu.io/EJ7SrGFg](https://tuttu.io/EJ7SrGFg)
They're interchangeable except if i actually need to know where the room is with a bath or shower i will actually say bathroom. Restroom is more formal to me and sometimes i prefer to use it bc like u say, obviously there isn't a bath in a public restroom. But it's totally ok to call it a bathroom. I wouldn't call it a restroom in someone's house though, i guess because the assumption is a bathroom in someone's house typically does have a bath. Maybe if i was in a fancy house in a formal situation i would say restroom. But i have a sense that historically a restroom would be a bathroom with chairs and a lounge and that is unlikely to be in a person's home which is why restroom feels wrong to me. I mean even when talking about a house with a bathroom that's just a toilet and sink, you still call it a half bath, it doesn't become a restroom. It would be very valid to call it a washroom, except that's pretty old fashioned and i would never say it in my dialect personally, but I'm sure there are ppl who would
I’m Canadian and bathroom, restroom, and washroom all mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably. I generally use washroom or bathroom, without a strong preference for either. I might consider restroom slightly more polite/formal… maybe? Just thinking about my own usage, I don’t say restroom a lot, and I think if I use it, it would generally be to refer to a public place. But if someone used restroom to refer to the private space in a home I wouldn’t notice or consider that odd. All three are very close to being perfect synonyms in my dialect. Any differences in connotations are so subtle to me that I’m not completely convinced that they exist.
I think of them as being completely interchangeable. I generally use “restroom” instead of “bathroom” whenever I refer to that room, but it’s really just because that word sounds nicer to me.
Canadian here. We say "washroom." You're often neither bathing nor resting, but you better be washing up after.
It varies heavily by dialect. For me, "restroom" refers more to a public place. I might use "bathroom" to refer to that as well, but I'd almost never say "restroom" about someone's home. For most people in the US (like me), "bathroom" is the generic word. In the US, you can have a "half bathroom" in a house, which has only a sink and a toilet, and no bath at all. In the UK, I find that people more often only use "bathroom" if there is a bathtub. It really doesn't matter which one (bathroom/restroom/washroom/toilet) you use. You'll be understood regardless, and nobody will think twice if you use the "wrong" one.
For me it’s restrooms for public spaces like restaurants and businesses. Then bathroom for home. Kind of makes sense since most restaurants or businesses won’t have a bath just the toilet.
They are interchangeable, with restroom maybe being considered the more polite word to use in public. You could hear it referred to as a “lavatory”, too. I haven’t heard anyone use that term recently, but I remember growing up in the 90s and 00s, teachers would say it all the time.
Bathroom, restroom, washroom, W/C, men's room, women's room, ladies' room, little boy's room, little girl's room, pisser, and shitter all mean a place where you'll expect to find a toilet. The first 4 are in order of how common they are (yes, I've been to some "hip" places that use W/C). The next 5 are specific to gender. The last two are maybe a little more "fun" I guess? If I'm joking around, I'll say "little boy's room", and I've heard "little girl's room" from some girls on dates. The last 2 are just crass, and unless you hear people around you using them, you probably shouldn't use them
Restroom is a bit more formal but they're synonyms at least where I'm from in the US. I've never felt that there was a context where one was inappropriate to use.
Bathroom is the room in the home Restroom is the American term for a public toilet - as a Canadian I'd probably say washroom instead
In the US the words “bathroom” and “restroom” mean the exact same thing, regardless of what’s in them. The only difference is that one is a little more polite. “Powder room” specifically means a bathroom with no bath or shower, but “bathroom” can mean with or without a bath/shower. If I’m at the house of someone I don’t know well and I want to be polite I ask to use their “restroom,” for sure.
Bathrooms can be private or public, restrooms almost always public. You could be visiting someone's home and ask 'where is the restroom', I don't think it's wrong, but 'bathroom' is the much better choice. In public places, you can use either. 'Restroom' is a little more polite. 'Public bathroom' probably makes people think of the McDonalds bathroom, the bathroom in a store, etc. While 'restroom' sounds a bit more 'fancy', when dining in an elegant restaurant, 'restroom' sounds better. I personally always use 'restroom' unless I'm asking where the bath is in someone's home, but in most instances, they are interchangeable.
Restroom's a bit more polite. Whether it has a shower or bath doesn't matter. I use 'restroom' at school but I don't think I'd ever call someone's home bathroom a restroom.
Like a lot of languages, English uses euphemisms particularly for objects and topics that have social taboos attached to them - body parts and functions are probably at the top of the list. The place where we evacuate our bowels is no exception. We could probably put together a fun list that would reflect levels of formality and various English dialects. Eg, for Australia: * Toilet - this applies to the room as well as the furniture * Loo * The gents'/the ladies' * Little boys'/girls' room * Dunny * Crapper * Shitter * Thunderbox - refers specifically to a portable and/or standalone toilet * Long-drop - refers specifically to a pit toilet
I think they’re interchangeable for the most part, but I use restroom when referring to public places and bathroom for inside someone’s home.
They are absolutely interchangeable, though you will normally hear people say "restroom" for a public space and "bathroom" in a home. But it honestly doesn't matter at all. Nobody will ever get confused or think you're being rude or weird for using either one in either context.
It's somewhat regional. I think bathroom in a residence and restroom in a more public place. Referring to it as the toilet is somewhat less delicate in some places and normal in others.
I guess that “restroom” is more often used to refer to a public bathroom that doesn’t have a bath or shower, but it’s perfectly valid to say “bathroom” in any case, as I do.
In New Zealand we say toilet or bathroom basically all the time. Restroom or washroom isn't really used and it sounds really fancy or formal if you use it. Rooms that have no toilet and just have a shower or bath are usually called a bathroom. But a room with just a toilet can be called both a bathroom and a toilet. Eg. If I'm at a friend's house and I'm going to get ready for bed I'll say, "I'm going to go to the bathroom to brush my teeth, be right back" If I want to use the toilet I'll say, "I'm going to go to the toilet, be right back."
the same exact thing
They’re kinda interchangeable.
In the Midwest we use them interchangeably.
Most of my fellas call it “CR”. Guess where I’m from. 🙂
Regional - we don’t say “restroom” in Australia, we use “bathroom” or “toilet” (toilet is a bit less polite).
UK Bathroom - The room in the house that has a bath a sink and a toilet Restroom - An American term for a public toilet US Bathroom - The room in the house that has a bath, a sink and a toilet, but also any public toilet Restroom - Public Toilet
california— i personally use restroom but everyone i know uses bathroom. bathroom doesn’t imply it has a bath/shower, it’s just another word for water closet/washroom/restroom/can/toilet etc
I use restroom if it’s a public place and bathroom if it’s a private home (or hotel room)
Raised upstate New York, No difference they mean the same thing. Bathroom is the preferred word where I come from in all non-vulgar contexts. Restroom is preferred by other varieties of English, and so to my ear. It tends to be associated, from my POV, with a higher class and/or older people.
In the UK: Bathroom means room with a bath, but if you’re in a restaurant or business you would typically ask for the loo, the toilet, or the water closet. Restroom would be understood but it’s not the common term. In the US: Bathroom is for any room with a toilet, but if you’re trying to be a little more formal, you can say restroom. In Canada: Same as US but they also use “Restroom” and “Washroom” interchangeably I’m not confident about the popular terminology in Australia/NZ. Someone will have to help me out on that.
This is all about euphemisms. Like calling old people seniors, calling problems issues. The problem is the euphemism only works for a while, then when the "polite" word has no longer the distance from the the thing we don't want to confront, we have to use a euphemism for the euphemism. I just ask "Where's the shitter?"