Expressions On The Toilet
Expressions On The Toilet
Expressions On The Toilet
is located.
In English the bathroom can also be called: “the men’s room” (for men), “the
women’s room” (for women), and sometimes people also say “the little boy’s room”
(for men) and “the little girls’ room” (for women). For example:
All of the above expressions are neutral in nature (not too formal or informal) and
appropriate to use in public at anytime to ask where the bathroom is located.
The toilet, which is found in the bathroom, also has many names in English. Here is a
list of some of these names. How these words are used is in (parentheses).
toilet (neutral)
commode (formal)
potty (childish)
the pot (informal)
the throne (informal)
the chamber pot (old fashion)
Now, it is time to look at some vocabulary to talk about what happens in the
bathroom, on the toilet. Below are two lists of words for our two bodily functions (pee
and poop). I’ve listed these words generally in order from the most polite/formal
words (at the top) to the least polite/informal words (at the bottom). I have indicated
next to each word whether it is a noun or verb, its formality, or other important
information. How the word is used is important information to know, so please take
note. There are some examples for how these words can be used below.
pee
urine (n) / to urinate (v) – (formal)
number 1 (n) -(neutral/polite)
tinkle (n) – (polite/old fashion)
(to) pee (n & v) – (neutral, most common term)
pee-pee (n) – (childish)
wee-wee (n) – (childish)
(to) piss (n & v) – (informal)
(to) wizz (n & v) – (very informal)
to take a leak (v phrase) – (very informal)
poop
to defecate (v) – (formal)
feces (n) – (formal)
stool (n) – (formal)
to have a bowel movement (v phrase) – (formal)
bowel movement or BM (n) – (neutral)
number 2 (n) – (neutral/polite)
poop (n) – (neutral, most common)
poo (n) – (neutral/childish)
poo-poo (n) – (childish)
poopy (n & adj) – (childish)
doo-doo (n) – (childish)
Learning this array of vocabulary for talking about bodily functions is important for a
few reasons:
1) You may hear other people (especially native speakers) use these words and so it is
good to know what they mean;
2) You want to use the right type of word for the right type of situation, and to do that
you have to know a variety of ways to talk about your bodily functions; and
3) This is vocabulary building! There is more than one way to say almost everything
and now you have many ways you can talk about a subject that is often hard to
discuss.