Date:  Wed, 27 Mar 1996 11:19:56 -0300

From:  Chris Brooks <chris[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]HSCC.KUNIV.EDU.KW>

Subject: Re: Lavatory = ?



I am impressed by the depth and breadth of posters' recollections on

this thread of lavatories, etc. Sali's "simple" and "compound" waste

contribution ("compound-complex", anyyone??) is great. How about

terms in this semantic area in other languages? In Indonesian, for

example, we ask if we can go to the little room (kamar kecil) or

to behind (ke belakang). Dependig on the rurality of the site, we

might be asked if we want to "throw big water" or "little water"

(buang air besar/buang air kecil). Throwing little water might

entail simply stepping behind a suitably distant tree; to throw

big water would be more complex--and hazardous. Stepping gingerly

out on a bamboo trunk slick with rain over a ditch while grasping another

pole for stability indeed concentrates the mind wonderfully for the

task at hand (!)



Any other interesting foreign language euphamisms for this gripping

subject?        Chris Brooks / Kuwait