Date:  Wed, 27 Mar 1996 07:47:14 -0800

From:  SETH SKLAREY <crissiet[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IX.NETCOM.COM>

Subject: Re: Lavatory = ?



Going to the LOO in Britain or il gabinetto in Italy.



Seth Sklarey

crissiet[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ix.netcom.com



>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

>

>