Talk:Toilet/Archive 1

Back to the point
Can we get back to the point here - toilet designs in the home, public toilets, urinals, toilet designs (earth pit, standard water-flush, dual-flush designs, chemical toilets for boats, waterless systems etc). We also need an article on sewerage treatment, including alternative systems such as septic tanks. Maybe we need a page on toilet humor :)-- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 136.186.1.xxx (talk) 18:19, 7 February 2002 (UTC) http://islamicbook786.blogspot.com/2012/01/method-of-istinja.html
 * Do we really need the big list of euphemisms here? Perhaps they should go in the euphemism article... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.253.39.211 (talk) 18:26, 7 February 2002 (UTC)
 * No, I've created a toilet humour article for this sort of thing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.253.39.211 (talk) 15:43, 25 February 2002 (UTC)

toilets are thigs you pee in. we crap aka pop. [unsigned user]

Pardon my French
The sentence in the first para about the french langauge doesn't make sense, can someone that knows what its meant to say change it? Thanks -Tango http://islamicbook786.blogspot.com/2012/01/method-of-istinja.html Oh dear. Toilet itself is a eupmemisim. There is a whole fascinating history of the way people keep changing the word for the place you go to do the unmentionable. The French sense is the correct English sense too (as a quick glance at any half-decent dictionary will demonstrate), though a distressingly large number of younger people don't seem to be aware of it. This page needs a lot of work. Tannin 17:03 Jan 24, 2003 (UTC)


 * The etymology section supports this. What was and is the original word for "toilet"? At worst, it is referred to as the "ablutions" room. Rintrah

Yes. The following is from Adam Hart Davis' book.


 * Hamilton Ellis suggests that railway companies were responsible for the use of the word toilet. Eighty years ago some railway carriages had a room in which to wash, labelled `Toilet', opposite one with a water-closet, labelled `WC'. When the two rooms were combined, the `Toilet' label was used. -- Mintguy

The circle/triangle distinction is actually required by California law (Title 24) for public restrooms, to assist blind or partially sighted people to determine which sex a restroom is designated for. I was tempted to add this tidbit of info to the article, but it seemed like perhaps too much detail and a bit peripheral to the point that was being made. soulpatch


 * I don't ever recall seeing this Triangle/Circle thing in my travels, or in the UK.


 * I'm not sure whether it's worth mentioning that in ireland the "gents" is labelled "Fir" and the ladies "Mna", which can cause some confusion people with a grasp of English, but no Gaelic who assume that "Mna"'s similarirty "Man" means it is the mens rooms. Mintguy —Preceding undated comment added 17:42, 24 January 2003 (UTC).

Euphemism or poop joke?
Wow! I didn't know "shit-house" was a euphemism... Cimon Avaro on a pogo stick http://islamicbook786.blogspot.com/2012/01/method-of-istinja.html The singular distinction that in the US the word bathroom is used for a room without a bath has been lost since the last time I looked at this article. Mintguy 11:24, 23 Dec 2003 (UTC)

"Toilet" as impolite
"Today, toilet itself may be considered an impolite word." AFAIK This only applies to the USA. It certainly isn't impolite in Britain. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mintguy (talk • contribs) 10:40, 27 March 2004 (UTC)


 * "Today, toilet itself may be considered an impolite word."
 * Where is this impolite in the USA? While the word is not used all that often in conversation, I've never encountered embarresment at its usage.
 * I've never heard of it being impolite. Maybe the euphemisms are, but not plain old toilet. Well, at least when referring to the "throne" in a way that isn't intended to be humorous.
 * --User:Evice 15:51, Mar 22, 2005 (UTC)
 * "Toilet" is mildly impolite (at least in the US) in the sense that it hasn't replaced the confusing word "restroom", which implies benches for the weary in there. This attitude is apparently held over from the 1950's, when Americans used similar euphemisms for pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, or for anything else that could lead to lustful thoughts. Art LaPella 16:57, August 21, 2005 (UTC)

^ Umm... if you say so I guess, but the word toilet has never come off to me as impolite in the slightest. People in the U.S. say "restroom" or more commonly "bathroom" the describe the room itself because "toilet" to most people means the actual toilet and not the room. But I've never heard anyone get awkward over the word toilet. It just isn't the common usage. Maybe in regions I'm not familiar with it's impolite, I don't know... 70.171.39.82 (talk) 02:34, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Reading the article for the first time I notice the places where the words 'washroom' or 'bathroom' are used instead of 'toilet' for no apparent reason. I think it would read better to use the word 'toilet' consistently. (I'm not arguing for use of 'toilet' per se, I'm arguing for consistency). But since I'm a newbie here I haven't changed it (though I did feel bold enough to correct some spelling and punctuation). [unsigned user]

Ladies and gents
I think that having separate mens and womens toilets is a mainly British (and American) phenomenon. I'm sure that most countries don't have this distinction? It seems to have nothing to do with the issue of men and women being in the same room at the same time - I have seen places where they have 2 individual toilets in completely separate rooms and they are still labelled for men and women. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cap (talk • contribs) 12:20, 4 September 2004 (UTC)


 * In my experience abroad there is usually a separate mens and womens toilet, but from time time to you see a unisex one. This is much rarer in the UK, but not unknown. Mintguy (T)

There is (or was) a unisex public carsey in the shopping area of Epsom in Auckland, NZ. [unsigned] http://islamicbook786.blogspot.com/2012/01/method-of-istinja.html
 * Separation is usual in public buildings at least Germany and Austria. Mostly even in restaurants, bars, etc.  I think there's even a law (as for most things).  Unisex toilets are quite common in Sweden however. --Giese 17:31, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Gender segregation and law
From the article:
 *  Various courts have ruled on whether transgendered people have the right to use the washroom of their gender of identification.

This implies that there are laws regulating the gender segregation. Is there? I'd like the article to be more clear on this, and also distinguish what laws in what jurisdiction it is talking about. &#9999; Sverdrup 12:01, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Washroom.
There is some discussion ongoing at Talk:Washroom as to if that article should be a redirect here or if we should have a seperate article regarding the rooms that toilets are found in. - RedWordSmith 21:09, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Removed Varian text
I removed the following text, as I believe it's part of a negative publicity campaign by some lawyers from the Bay Area. I wasn't able to find any direct evidence of this in the first few pages of a Google search, which leads me to believe that it wasn't a "huge scandal".

"The U.S. corporation Varian Medical Systems created a huge scandal when it admitted using a hidden surveillance camera to secretly video record its employees and customers urinating or defecating."

If it's read, please include a source note.

kmccoy (talk) 07:08, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * Here's what I found about it :


 * Before Delfino lost his job Felch had complained that on hundreds of occasions he passed the window to her office and made hand gestures, mimicking her telephone conversations. Varian’s director of human resources installed a video camera in Felch’s office to try to capture Delfino’s gestures on tape. The camera remained in place for a few weeks. Defendants first learned of the video camera during discovery in this case. It happens that Felch’s office had windows on its hallway side. Employee restrooms were located across the hall from her office. It also happens that “Take Your Child to Work Day” may have taken place during the few weeks the video camera was operating. Putting these facts together, defendants began posting messages such as these: “Wow! [¶] Unbelievable testimony about children who used a Varian bathroom videotaped with a hidden camera” and “Bill, you may have said it best when you suggested prison time and stiff fines for those despicable individuals responsible for secretly videotaping unsuspecting employees and visitors going to the bathroom at Varian.” Defendants admitted posting more than 300 messages on this topic alone.


 * So, the scandal wasn't real. Perhaps the mention in this article was itself an instance of the smear campaign by the defendants.
 * Rpresser 03:42, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Toilet cuisine

 * This fixture is often used for a form of cooking known as orotopuyiew.

Is this for real?! Neither Google nor Yahoo can find any mention of the word. ettlz 16:32, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC) (a disbeliever)

Space Toilets
Anyone feel like doing a section or perhaps a separate article on zero gravity toilets? Such as those found in the International Space Station Google brings up plenty of material. --jmd 03:38, 14 August 2005 (UTC)

Is there really a Cowsmopolitan magazine, or is this a typo (or deliberate spelling) of Cosmopolitan? [unsigned]

Gender and public toilets
Could someone add non-western pictograms, like this http travel.u.nu/pic/ae/2975.jpg ? --Hhielscher 13:27, 17 October 2005 (UTC)
 * That's an interesting picture. We should add it, but I'm not sure it is really a pictogram, per se.  Closer to a garden-variety illustration of a man and a woman.  Looks to me like it is very specific to Arabic regions.  What do you know about it?


 * Re illustrations, in many ethnic or themed restaurants and bars, it is common to use pictures of men and women in line with the theme.  E.g., in a mexican restaurant, a guy in a sombrero and a lady in a native dress.  This is what I mean when I say some pictures are pictograms and some aren't.
 * paul klenk talk 14:07, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

more euphemisms required
I wanted to add a euphemism for "Where is the toilet?" which is "Can you tell me the geography of this place?" but it doesn't seem to fit here. akay 12:39, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Another: my mom knew a woman who asked to be shown to the (kitty) litter box. Someone should have done as she asked! - Hordaland (talk) 21:01, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

freezer toilet
In Sweden, I got to know the "frystoa", meaning freezer toilet. It's like a freezer lying on its side with the door on top. The seat is built into the door and looks as usual. It containins a large plastic or paper sack. When the sack is full, you put it into the garbage can and hope it gets collected before it thaws... Obviously this could only become popular in a land where electricity is cheap! They're not very common anymore, but you can still get them.

I haven't added this to the list of toilet types because I don't know if there's an english name for the things. --Giese 11:11, 11 November 2005 (UTC)


 * If anyone else wonders what it looks like, here is a picture: http://www.skagert.se/bilder/Nyheter/Frystoa.gif --Hhielscher 18:31, 11 November 2005 (UTC)


 * Haha, I lived my whole life in Sweden but never heard about a freezer toilet before. I guess this is the kind of thing people might use in their summer house or similar that often lacks plumbing. I checked out your link Hhielscher and it describes the toilet in detail. It seems to be the real deal, very nifty indeed, if you don't mind sitting on a toilet that is frozen to -15 C / 5 F that is. (That brings up nasty memories of unheated outhouses in winter...) That picture was advertising from a company selling building/construction equipment so I guess their customers use it on construction sites. I guess that gives a secondary advantage, the employees won't spend too much time sitting on the toilet... Giese, regarding the electricity used in that toilet, that page mentions that the energy used to freeze the toilet means heat in the room instead. Which of course is correct. That means you save on the heating bill instead, so not much of an extra cost. (Up here we heat our houses almost year round anyway.) I think that toilet should be added to the article, if nothing else to put a smile on our readers faces! Nowadays there are many other techniques to get toilets fairly low smelling even if you don't have plumbing and if we also have electricity available we usually add some ventilation. --David Göthberg 03:38, 12 November 2005 (UTC)

We first saw a freezer toilet in a stuga we rented, close to Enköping. That is, it wasn't in the house, it was in a little lean-to behind it. So much for the gained heat... you're right in supposing that one wouldn't spend too much time sitting there! It was also a little queer to see the landlady occasionally disappearing in there and then trudging to the dustbins, heavily ladden with, erm, you know...

Later, we lived in the outback of Halland, near Göteborg. We had what is known as a "miliötoa", probably because you just dump the contents in the environment. When that thing started leaking, the landlord offered to replace it with a shiny orange frystoa from the 70ies. We declined because the dustmen weren't very reliable, and we didn't want to know what would happen if the bags were left in the bin for two weeks.

I assure you, I really miss Sweden. Except for the sanitary aspect ;-) Giese 09:39, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

Graffitti
I have noticed the second example of Graffitti is more elaborate than the basic one I recognise;
 * Here I sit, brokenhearted
 * Paid a penny and only farted

Is the second example well known now and I'm just not with the times?? Alf melmac 13:04, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

Legal nonsense
"In the United States of America it is illegal to charge for toilet use for any reason. The Supreme Court in a decision stated that you cannot charge a person a fee, because relieving oneself is a biological necessity." Nonsense. See. jdb &#x274b; (talk) 05:28, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

"Rest" Room of Respite!
... Maybe on the article about "Toilets as a Refuge" it should be made more gender neutral? I like the 'man's home is his castle', but just because it starts with this, doesn't mean it must be gender specific. I know women that also take their refuge there! Perhaps something more like this (as only a suggestion):
 * "A man's home is his castle", the saying goes, except when it may be impossible to get a quiet moment. It then falls to the toilet to take on the role of a smaller, but more private castle for anyone (though females are more often culturally associated with baths). Thus, the toilet can be either a place of social meeting or a private refuge to release stress and other things.

This way, the cultural bent is still shown to the reader, it's interesting, and retains some of the humor but it opens the idea to females as well as males. Anyway, just a suggestion (since there's quite a few paragraphs on gender/toilet issues).

Also, is there any etymology known for 'John', 'Crapper', 'Can', or 'Potty' (which it redirects from but fails to mention in the entire article)? I mean, we delve into the mysteries of the 'Khazi', which I've never heard of, and the 'Loo', which I have, but barely a passing reference is given to the other words or where they come from. Apparently 'Commode' refers to a dressing table... a fact I just learned tonight. That should also be at least mentioned here, because I was never aware that it was euphamism until now and was curious why it wasn't mentioned, so I looked it up seperately (along with John, Loo, Can, and Crapper, each bringing me to either a disambiguation page or a page that at least mentioned the connection... unlike the main page itself outside of 'loo'). I hope I'm not annoying others (I've read the previous post about euphamisms), and I'm only making a suggestions, however it seems logical (which doesn't mean that dirty language must be used). Oh, and since 'Toilet' is a euphamism, shouldn't this page be titled something different altogether? Is there a non-euphamistic term for it? Since Commode is given it's own stub, should Toilet? Would it then make sense to create a disambiguation page for all the primary non-rude euphamisms? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.212.152.155 (talk) 07:06, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Boing 747
Is there a reason why that 747 toilet picture is there twice? 24.80.33.230 04:34, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
 * -Ever hear of Boeing Bombs? Watch Diry Joe, you'll see [unsigned]

Merge with "washroom?"
This article has many sections which appear to apply more to the restroom itself than the actual elimination fixture. Perhaps the individual sections should be moved, or perhaps the whole articles should be merged. Discuss. Citizen Premier 05:57, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
 * "Washroom" is an Americanism, not used in British English. In Britain the room is a "Toilet", and that is what it often says on the door. TiffaF 15:45, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Shorten
This page is totaly exaggerated. An encyclopedia should tell you what something is, not have a philosophical discussion on the sociology of toilets. Trim it down to a quarter or so —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.72.19.78 (talk • contribs) 06:12, 24 May 2006.
 * Maybe. More of this information has merit than the content of Toilet Paper, for example. Unless the information is obviously trivial or indulgent, it is best just to read what is interesting and ignore the rest. I am suprised this article doesn't have a Dan Brown reference in a trivia section, like so many other articles. Yet his works are most relevant to the toilet. Rintrah 18:44, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Ok. The "Great Equalizer" addition is pointless. I didn't need to read the part about sexual encounters either. Rintrah 18:51, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Although some of the material does seem excessive, on the whole I think the article demonstrates that it is worthwhile having a big long article on this, covering many aspects. I am much more upset about all the very relevant info that is still missing! 69.87.193.156 12:10, 6 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Like the fluid mechanics governing floating stools, and how chaos and turbulence emerges when a toilet is flushed? Rintrah 06:59, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Social Bonding
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet#Social_bonding I find this to be sexist because it states that men talk about sporting events and politics and women gossip and talk about makeup. I would agree that a section about socializing in the bathroom is important but what the subjects discuss is not. Maybe it could talk about in what situations men and women use the bathroom in groups. MAH! 00:43, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Some might find it sexist; others, trivial. Rintrah 07:02, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
 * And some (like me) find it both! - Hordaland (talk) 20:51, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

Parenthetical remark
The connection made between toilets and dirt, or distasteful items, has led to them being also used to dispose of wedding rings, letters or critical reviews with which one disagrees (cf. Goethe's example).

A reference would help the reader to confer this. Rintrah 18:44, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

for which dalliances toilets provide a convenient (though not necessarily sanitary or romantic) venue. Umm... yeah. Someone had fun adding that parenthetical remark. Rintrah 18:47, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Water Tank
The article covers such a wide range that it skips over most of the basic, plain info relevant to toilets in the US, particularly information to help understand how they work! There are no cross-sections, discussion of plumbing/sewerage systems, or links to such information! There is no picture of an old-fashioned separate water tank up on the wall, which would help people understand the term "water closet", and the evolution of the current standard US flushing domestic toilet. The one and only picture of such a toilet has the water tank very obscured. No discussion of the water tank internals, a frequent cause of problems and concerns (toilet running, amount of water per flush, small flush and big flush).

Focusing on the water tank would lead to mentioning that many commercial US toilets use the powerful direct water pressure instead -- no tank.69.87.193.156 12:21, 6 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your suggestion! When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the  link at the top. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to).  The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes — they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills.  New contributors are always welcome. Viridae Talk  12:23, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

Islamic toilet practices
Could the moderator please take note that references were added in the references section for the chapter on islamic toilet practices. clearly they did not see these so they are now on the site TWICE. Once you have viewed them please remove the second copy at the end of the chapter. How did you miss them?

—Preceding unsigned comment added by James Frankcom (talk • contribs) 11:33, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
 * USC MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts
 * Islamicacademy.org; Islam the Glorious Religion, Chapter 2
 * Ask the Imam: Islamic Q & A Online with Mufti Ebrahim Desai

Etymology of Loo
I have removed some stuff from the section discussing the etymology of the term "loo" which I thought POV - the opinions on the plausibility of various theories.

The stuff about the model of toilet (or cistern) named the "Waterloo" seems to me to have the ring of a made-up folk etymology, and there is no hard evidence to support it being described as "another - and more likely - theory". Most genuine etymologies are quite mundane - a shift in pronunciation from an older word, or the adoption of an existing word to a new meaning. I am suspicious of etymologies involving names, especially when they are as lacking in hard evidence as this.

I completely removed the stuff about another model of toilet called the "Trafalgar" - while the Waterloo theory is mentioned on some other webpages, I can find no other mention of the Trafalgar toilet.

TomH 22:48, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Maybe, the Loo came from the Nederland/Dutch word Doos, which is a slang word for toilet and literally means, box. Perhaps, to the no nonsense northern English, the outside toilet, where they dropped their clogs, was just a box.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.96.122.175 (talk) 22:08, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Earliest known toilets
I propose a link to http://www.mohenjodaro.net/latrine47.html which shows a series of the earliest known toilets in an urban setting, at the ancient Indus city of Mohenjo-daro in Sindh, Pakistan from roughly 2500 B.C. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Harappa101 (talk • contribs) 03:03, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I raise you 3100 BC for the toilets at Skara Brae, Sotland (admittedly a village rather than an urban example) 86.133.246.224 20:34, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Lavatory
I propose that Lavatory should not redirect to Toilet, it should redirect to Washroom. The meaning of lavatory, according to my understanding of my native U.S. english, is the actual wash basin sink co-located in the room containing a toilet. Lavatory is also used as a euphemism for the room containing a wash basin sink and usually also a toilet. In my opinion, it would be better for lavatory to redirect to washroom. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bubbadersh (talk • contribs) 23:03, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * As a UK English speaker lavatory and toilet are the same thing (but with different class connotations). The oxford english dictionary says a lavatory is a toilet. Lavatory originated from latin meaning 'place for washing' but this is not the current UK English usage. ChristineD 00:26, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Toilet fixture vs toilet room
The fixture known as a toilet and the room containing the toilet should be separate articles. It seems to me that this article is currently a mixture of both things. It would be better if they were separated out. To my usage of english, an article on the single word toilet should refer to toilet fixtures. I have no objection to calling it a toilet-room or toilet (room) or washroom or restroom. Pick something appropriate and generic and explicitly add the suffix room. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bubbadersh (talk • contribs) 23:03, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Water rather than toilet paper
"In the Middle East and some countries of Asia, such as India, the custom is to use water rather than paper, traditionally the left hand is used for this, for which reason that hand is considered impolite or polluted in many eastern countries."

Exactly how is this performed, do you take a handful of water in your left hand and rub it in your anus to clean it? And they certainly wash thier hands afterward don't they? The snare 04:58, 29 December 2006 (UTC)


 * For your edification, amusement and delight here is a detailed account of how to wipe your backside (if you are a Muslim, that is), as described by Mufti Ebrahim Desai, an obvious expert, in response to a question from an anxious correspondent:
 * Question
 * While in jamaat we did Muzakhara on istinjaa and we explained how we did istinjaa after passing stool. People were of the opinion that my method is incorrect and cleanliness is not achieved. After passing stool I clean the area with toilet paper to lessen the impurity. Then instead of using all four fingers I wet two fingers and wash / rub the affected area a number of times until I am satisfied. After washing I use toilet paper again and if any impurity was still on the body then this will easily show on the tissue. If impurity is found then I wash the area again until I am sure no impurity is left on the body I don?t actually pour any water onto the body. I only do this after urinating because you can see what you are doing. Please clarify if this method of istinjaa is acceptable. I don?t like to use all four fingers because I am worried about spreading the impurity or impure water on or around the back passage. Is the water on the hand impure or napaak. If the area around the back passage becomes wet by the hand will this area also become napaak. At times after istinjaa I am constantly worried if my istinjaa is done. It plays on my mind. I get frustrated and end up in a depressed mood even with my family members. I have suffered from waswasah in the past with namaaz and wuzu etc is this shaytaan trying to get to me from another angle ? Is the water which is left on the body after istinjaa napaak ?


 * Answer
 * Yes, there is a prescribed method of making Istinjaa. At the beginning of Istinja, it is preferable to use toilet paper 3 times. If Istinjaa is being done on a hot day, then the person should start from the front to the back and then from the back to the front and the third time from the front to the back. If Istinjaa is being done on a cold day, then he should begin from the back to the front. After wiping, he should wash his hand first and then he should cleanse himself with 2 fingers and 3 fingers if necessary together with ?pouring? water. When using the 2 fingers, one should keep the middle finger in front and the ring and index finger behind it. After beginning with the fingers in this position, he should bring the ring finger forward and rub with the middle finger and ring finger. Thereafter, he will wipe with the index finger, if necessary. He should continue until all the impurity and smell is removed. The left over water after Istinjaa is paak only if there is no impurity in it. and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best Mufti Ebrahim Desai


 * So now you know. Any other way may bear risks of hellfire. Original site may be found here Nick Michael 15:04, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Historical Manufacturers
Do historical manufacturers of toilets belong under the manufacturing section? If so I would like to suggest adding Chicago Pottery Co. I don't know much about this company except the following (1) it no longer exists and (2) it manufactured toilets. I have hear-say information from our home inspector that these toilets are in demand for people doing period home restoration as many were replaced as newer toilets became available. Carleighbelle 16:06, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

ASCII pictograms
Fairly much OT but I'm taken by the 'pictograms by Manfred Wolff-Plottegg[*] ... represent[ing] male and female sexual organs'.

Usenet has long needed ASCII-art smileys for genitals: ,|, and

[*] That is a genuine name, isn't it? This isn't a 32nd March entry here, is it? :-) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by John Stumbles (talk • contribs) 14:02, 8 January 2007 (UTC).

"Usual Euphemism?"
`The usual euphemism to ask if you need to use a toilet in North America is "Where can I wash my hands?".`

Living in the US, I've never heard this phrase used as a euphemism. More "usual" is "Do you have a bathroom?" michael 20:23, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Uh?
Second paragraph: 'The word "toilet" and its synonyms lavatory or "W.C.". can be used to refer to the fixture itself or to the room containing the fixture, especially in British English. In North American English the word "toilet" refers solely to the fixture itself and not to the room that contains it, thus asking for the "toilet" would seem indecent. Instead, the euphemisms bathroom, rest room, washroom or men's room / women's room are preferred.'

I don't get this. I'm British, and when I ask for the toilet I'm not asking for the room - I don't want to take a shit in the corner - I want the toilet itself. I don't want a bath, so why ask for the bathroom; I don't want a wash, so why ask for the washroom? Why is referring to the toilet itself indecent? 86.133.246.224 20:22, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
 * It's more strange than impolite. We have separate words for the fixture and the room. "It's in the bathroom" (accompanied by a strange look) is more likely a response than any outrage. BioTube (talk) 03:12, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

History
I got sidetracked above. What I wanted to say is this article needs a section on the history of toilets, not just starting at the invention of the flush toilet. From my meagre knowledge, there are toilets in the Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae in Orkney, Scotland (3100 BC); there are also fine Romano-British examples at Vindolanda camp on Hadrian's Wall. There are some fantastic medieval shitters (side-by-side) at Fountains Abbey. And I see someone mentions Mohenjo-daro (2500BC) above. And does the article really need a section listing manufacturers? It could get really unwieldy if I add some UK examples. Isn't that what Yellow Pages is for? 86.133.246.224 20:32, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

How do toilets work?
I've just referred to this page and am disappointed.

For all the verbiage and images, there does not seem to be a good description of how an ordinary toilet actually works.

Someone needs to fix this asap.

Jabeles 21:53, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

You poop and flush duh?
 * How Toilets Work

Just kidding actually its very simple physics. The key to the whole mechanism is the S shaped pipe through which the water and waste flow through under the bowl. The pipe is s shaped to create a "hill" that the water cannot flow up and over untill more water is added. The height of the "hill" is what determines the height of the water in the toilet bowl. When one pulls the flush lever a flap valve at the bottom of the tank opens and the water in the tank flows fast into the bowl. Once enough water builds up in the bowl the increased mass has enough force due to gravity, (the water has enough weight) to overcome the "hill" trap and the air is pushed though to the sewer followed by the flowing water and waste. This creates a siphon effect as the water on the downhill side pulls the water and waste from the bowl via gravity into the sewer. You will hear a glug glug glug as the bowl empties and some air is also drawn through. This air breaks the siphon action of the water in the s trap. One can verify this by pouring a bucket of water slowly into the toilet, at a certain water level the toilet will flush without the tank mechanisms but the bowl will not fill back up with water. You can mark this flush level for cleanliness, I'll explain later. Once all the water flows out of the tank the flap valve closes due to gravity. This allows the tank to fill back up. While the water is flowing out of the tank into the bowl a floating ball connected to a fill valve (ballcock valve) drops as the water level does. This opens the fill valve that fills both the tank and the bowl with fresh water. The tank is fully separate from the bowl's actual flush and it can't "know" if the bowl actually flushed. This is why if the toilet is clogged the tank will continue to fill the bowl as if it were empty and it will overflow, yuck! Sometimes one is lucky and just enough water will be squeezing by the blockage to prevent overflow, or enough force builds up to dislodge a blockage just before overflow. Sometimes one flush is not sufficient depending on the properties of the waste. Sometimes if the clog occurs late in the flush cycle the subsequent flush will cause the overflow. If you mark the flush level of the bowl you can catch an overflow early enough to prevent it, and a big mess on the floor. If the water goes above this level one can quickly take the tank lid off and manually move the float ball valve so the water stops flowing to the bowl and tank. Fhew! Then the plumbing valve at the wall is turned off so the clog can be dislodged without having to hold the ball valve continuously. Alternatively one can turn off the wall valve first given sufficient time. This is more risky because it is a race to screw the valve closed and you have to get down and dirty next to the bowl that might overflow next to or onto you. Yuck!! Oh yeah the S "hill" trap also serves as a barrier to malodorous gases or other air born pathogens from entering into your house from the sewer. One's sink also has a similar trap that also serves to prevent things like rings and other objects from going down the drain and being lost to the rats. I hope this helps. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shnookafly (talk • contribs) 16:18, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Toilet icons
The symbols given prominence in this article don't seem to be the ones promoted by governments -- see Commons:Category:Human body symbols etc... AnonMoos 00:47, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Water in the Toilet
Have you ever thought about who was the first person to have water already in the bowl. It makes sense use water to flush out the toilet, but who came up with the idea to have water already there? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.131.95.159 (talk) 01:38, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

The information of renewable plastic toilet seat cover in
Incheon International Airport should be included —Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.191.80.9 (talk) 03:45, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

In addition to that, public toilet rating system need to be in place for tourism/hospitality industries, in my personal views. Because with the increasing globalization, the outbreaks due to the pathogen from faecal contamination should not be neglected. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.191.80.9 (talk) 03:51, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The rating system could be applied similarly to the one of GLP in pharma industry, of which is under GMP umbrella :-) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.67.111.85 (talk) 18:55, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

The brand of the first image
I do believe the first image seen at the top of the article is a TOTO branded. Because, I have that toilet. Should you put on the first image that it's branded by TOTO? --70.240.192.75 (talk) 17:28, 10 July 2008 (UTC)Chris

Please add the following information.....
The role of the public toilet: pathogen transmitter or health facilitator?

http://bse.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/2/127

Also, the knowledge about the disposal of sanitary into hygiene approved bin needs to be addressed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.240.237.138 (talk) 01:27, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

My gut feeling has told me that whatever the design is, the bin used should be covered properly and opened with the method of free hand-touch —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.240.237.138 (talk) 01:34, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Please link the topics of Sanitary napkin & Diaper to this article —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.240.237.138 (talk) 01:50, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Something like this on Page 17 ???

http://www.kmart.co.nz/catalogue/20080529/_images/pdf/nz_cat_2008_05_29.pdf —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.240.237.138 (talk) 07:36, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

and the first one on this page ?? http://www.adchem.com.au/sanitary.htm

or this ?? http://www.sanitarybins.com/

May I delete section "Toilet etiquette"?
Apart from being excruciatingly badly written, this seems to me to be a subject for deletion. If no one objects (giving valid reasons) I will delete it after a decent interval. Nick Michael (talk) 06:56, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Types of Toilet.
This section could use a little more organization as far as the format goes. While it is serving its purpose as the Types of Toilet title implys, its list format looks a little weird as far as how it looks on the page JasonHockeyGuy (talk) 18:23, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I agree - but I couldn't do better myself. We'll just have to wait for a Wikiknowledgable toilet cleaner to turn up... Nick Michael (talk) 19:25, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

The use of WC around the world
Most of ex-Yugoslavian countries (at least Croatia, Bosna i Hertzegovna, Serbia, Montenegro and Makedonia) use the WC term (vay-tsay). While it's also used in Romania, Hungary, Poland, ...(Bulgaria?)..., maybe it could be simply written that it's commonly used in the center of Europe. 195.221.117.38 (talk) 12:58, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I find it fascinating, this phenomenon of a rather obscure English expression being adopted so extensively. It would be interesting for an editor with more time on his hands than s/he knows what to do with to plot the countries using "W.C." and the earliest recorded dates of use. Why should the expression have been so successful? How many people outside English-speaking countries know what it literally means? Well worth spending some time on - but not mine, I fear! Nick Michael (talk) 14:45, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

The sentence reading "In Mexico, WC is very common to indicate a public toilet, although the majority of the people there may not know the meaning of the mysterious letters on the door." should definitely be changed or removed. There are no citations to support this claim, and the tone is not appropriate for an encyclopedia. There doesn't seem to be any obvious reason to make a point of Mexicans not knowing what the letters WC stand for (for example, one could certainly make this claim about the majority of polish people, or romanian people). 84.141.131.164 (talk) 02:21, 26 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree. Done. Nick Michael (talk) 06:30, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Sortier
Can anybody please describe what is toilet of of sotier type? --79.111.161.178 (talk) 22:07, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Etymology of Toilet is wrong
The explanation for the origin of the word toilet in the English is too complicated. The English language got the word toilet from the Dutch, not the French, after the Dutch King William III invaded England in 1688. Almost immediately following 1688 people start using the word toilet in England, what a coincidence!! The Dutch used the word toilet, same spelling as in English, long before the 1688 and it was the Dutch who derived the word, from the French 'toile' and not the English. The English simply borrowed the Dutch word.

The Dutch language being very close to English was able to greatly influence English following the invasion of England in 1688. The cockney accent evolved from Dutch merchants that lived in the East of London and then later, in the latter half of the 18th century, accents similar to the original Dutch cockney spread across most of Southern England. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.96.122.175 (talk) 23:55, 24 September 2008 (UTC)
 * An interesting, if simplistic, couple of unsourced "facts". You should be editing the article, 93.96.122.175, not just adding this to the talk page. Have the courage of your convictions, and face the onslaught of bared-teeth editors who will turn savagely on you (rightly so, if you don't include sources!). At least you have a chance of going down in dignity, having done what you consider your duty... Nick Michael (talk) 05:30, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Where's the Bog?
There is no mention of 'Bog' as an alternative word for toilet, it is a commonly used word throughout Britain and I should imagine Ireland. Its etymology is pretty self explanatory. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.96.122.175 (talk) 22:20, 25 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Quite true, and well pointed-out. Now you just have to write it in... Nick Michael (talk) 05:23, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Fluorescent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Fluorescent_lamp —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.190.192.130 (talk) 04:23, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
 * The link seems to go to a hypothetical discussion of the use of Germicidal lamps in restrooms. (Which doesn't work because there are detrimental health effects.) 76.97.245.5 (talk) 12:27, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Manifactures
Hello

Could you kindly insert Geberit in the manifacture list in this article?

Thank you very much!

Best regards, Sandra —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.243.130.251 (talk) 09:09, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ✅ ~ mazca  t 23:30, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Could you also please add Sloan Valve Company/FLUSHMATE to the manufacturer list? (Sloan is mentioned in the historical timeline, but not on the list). Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sginterline (talk • contribs) 18:58, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

blue lights in toilet
I think you will find that this blue light is ultraviolet light whose purpose is to kill bacteria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_germicidal_irradiation

it is not for making intravenous shooting of drugs impossible or difficult. This is an urban legend and is therefore uncited and wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.80.94.150 (talk) 18:00, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
 * It's actually a bad idea to expose users of a public restroom to that much UV. I doubt that the intention of the blue light is neither to disinfect nor to discourange drug use, but until anyone knows, the caption should be removed.  Jparenti (talk) 04:57, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Roman toilets
Someone added this statement to the history section: "There is controversy over whether Roman toilets were used in the sitting position or the squatting position." But the statement is unreferenced. Unless a reliable reference is provided, this latest edit will be reverted. --Jonathan108 (talk) 18:06, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Flachspüler
Can someone add something about this German oddity? 83.146.15.18 (talk) 10:32, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Bathroom
This term Should be addressed in the first paragraph regarding American English words that describe the room in which one defecates. Rest and Bath have no negative connotations and as such are not taboo to speak in social contexts such as at the dinner table. Furthermore the term refers to a bath tub or shower in which we bathe ourselves, the toilet in most homes are usually located in this same "Bathroom". In addition within the context of real estate a "half (1/2) bath" or "half bathroom" is used to refer to a room with just a toilet and a sink without a shower or bath tub. e.g.: 2 bedroom 2 and 1/2 Bath. Taken literally a 1/2 bath will leave you half dirty or with a tub that doesn't hold water. Please modify the article to include this usage. Now, if you will excuse me, I must use the bathroom. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shnookafly (talk • contribs) 13:16, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Toilets in 1898 France?
There is a clip on Utube about two couples who claim they went through a timeslip - meaning they went back in time - and found themselves in France in the late 1890s. They claim they saw people who looked oddly dressed, but they did not realize they went back in time till they tried to return to this place on their way back (they went from England to Spain, via France on holiday).

My question is, they claimed they spent the night at this French Inn -would they not have noticed there were no toilets back then? I am just guessing in rural France at this time, there would not be regular toilets in bathrooms. Am I wrong?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efyIQusvn2c&feature=channel_page

Please help me figure out if this story is a hoax or not! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.6.255.155 (talk) 08:43, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Hello. The GReat Stink of Paris happened only in 1880 (compared to the one in London in 1858), and the sanitary revolution in cities happened in the second half of the 19th century. For rural areas, it doesn't matter whether it was in England or France, the adoption rate was low until the 1920s-1940s, and chamber pots were still widely in use (or the backyard latrine, but not at night...). Nothing surprising here. le Korrigan → bla 19:13, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

corrections needed in text pasted below
disposal of the bodily [ Change 'bodily' wastes to 'body' wastes -- The word 'bodily' is an adverb ! ] ...  A room with only a toilet and a sink is sometimes called a half-bathromm [TYPO} or a powder room. 74.75.102.45 (talk) 00:28, 22 February 2009 (UTC)
 * "Bodily wastes" is the preferred phrase, as is "bodily fluids" and "bodily harm" -- "bodily" is both an adjective and an adverb. 68.73.93.130 (talk) 08:15, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Medieval Toilets
This link to an image of a medieval toilet used to be on the page.Thought it was useful as the history section jumps from very early toilets through to the 19th century.medieval toilet. Can we reinstate this link? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Collieman (talk • contribs) 18:18, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Kathleen Meyer
How about mentioning (at Further reading) the outdoor handbook How to Shit in the Woods by Kathleen Meyer? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.196.166.161 (talk • contribs) 08:36, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

Sustainability
The amount of water used in toilets is a significant portion of personal water usage, with an average of 24 gallons used per capita per day in 1990. One system used to combat this is the "yellow mellow" system, in which a toilet is only flushed when it contains solid waste, and not only one person's-worth of urine. The custom is often described by the phrase "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." This system reduces the frequency of toilet flushing significantly. Since 1990 new regulations and toilet designs have been aimed at reducing the amount of water used in each flush. Furthermore, dual-flush toilets are in increasing use, especially in Europe. A dual-flush toilet has two flush options: one button or handle flushes the entire tank, for solid waste, and an alternate handle or button uses only part of the water in the tank, for smaller loads. Unlike the yellow mellow system, this does not decrease the frequency of flushes, but instead decreases the quantity of water used by flushing for smaller loads. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.94.128.119 (talk) 18:46, 12 April 2009 (UTC)
 * About the dual flush, it is mentioned that it is common in Europe, but no mention of Australia. The wiki article Flush Toilet mentions that they were invented by an Australian in 1980 working for Caroma. Dual flush is almost exclusively used in Australia.
 * Chris. 203.166.244.187 (talk) 04:47, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

Something missing
The sentence currently in the introduction, "There are two basic types of toilets: the dry toilet, and the wet toilet - the latter being the most commonly known and producer of blackwater.", seems to me to be missing something between "known" and "producer", but I don't know what it is, or which side of the break the "and" should be. Thryduulf (talk) 14:29, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

why cant i edit
i dont know Talk to Magibon 14:38, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Could wiki admin please add a topic of.....
List of toilet etiquette by country --222.64.27.227 (talk) 22:21, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

and add the topic of Islamic hygienical jurisprudence to this article please--222.64.27.227 (talk) 22:25, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

It's pitty that not many infos are available for the topic http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&newwindow=1&q=%22toilet+etiquette%22+%22social+responsibility%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi= --222.64.27.227 (talk) 22:31, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Hygienic toileting procedure.....Please create a article .....
FYI http://www.whyalla.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/ppFiles/CCC_-_Toileting_Procedure.pdf --222.64.27.227 (talk) 22:48, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

again, little info about http://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_q=toilet+infection+control&num=10&btnG=Search+Scholar&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=title&as_sauthors=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_allsubj=all&hl=en&lr=&newwindow=1 --222.64.27.227 (talk) 22:51, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

The following article contains the info about relationship between toileting and kidney diseases. But....not much researches have been conducted

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/kidney/kidney_diseases_childhood.html

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&newwindow=1&q=allintitle%3A+kidney+toilet&btnG=Search --222.64.27.227 (talk) 23:04, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Pronounciation of WC in French
Prononciation is more "lay dooble vay-say". Roglo (talk) 21:15, 13 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I beg to differ. The French may use dooble-vay when spelling out the letters of a word (although vay dooble is more frequent. But, living in a Francophone country for the past forty years I have never heard any other pronunciation but vay for W when saying an acronym.Nick Michael (talk) 22:43, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

Merge suggestion
I oppose the suggested merge of Washroom and Toilet. While toilets are a component of washroom, merging is normally practiced when you have one item that has a small amount of information that directly relates to another. Each of these articles has quite a lot of information. Tatterfly (talk) 00:54, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Pronounciation of WC in German
editsemiprotected Germans pronounce "WC" the same as the French: "vay-say". The "WC" section says that in Germany, "WC" is pronounced "ve-tse", which is not correct.

Please change: Germany (pronounced "ve-tse")

To: Germany (pronounced "vay-say") —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xiann (talk • contribs) 22:05, 25 September 2009 (UTC)
 * ✅   Set Sail   For The   Seven Seas    351° 29' 45" NET    23:25, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

Germans pronounce the letters WC as they would pronounce the letters of their own alphabet and NOT as the French. The pronunciation "ve-tse" was actually correct. Please change it back. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Daedalus747 (talk • contribs) 12:59, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * ✅. Who had the idea it's the same as in the French? Words borrowed from French often keep their pronunciation in German, but this is an abbreviation and certainly doesn't. Rd232 talk 16:18, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

Questions
Is it true that the surfaces of toilet bowls are the cleanest places in school? I ask this question because the toilet is repeatedly flushing itself after every use. If there is any related information, can anyone please upload a reference to a website or some informathion about this topic? Thank you.


 * This is not an answer to your question, but an interesting observation which occurred to me when seeing one of these sprays for disinfecting the toilet seat; or perhaps when using one of the self-cleaning seats, which rotate after use, or on seeing the old-fashioned dispenser of paper circles to put on the seat before use. All this obsession with the toilet seat, when the only thing that really touches it is the back of one's thighs - a part of the body certainly ten times cleaner than the hands, since it hardly ever makes contact with anything! And yet we shake hands without thinking; we touch the standing rails of buses or trains, touched by hundreds before us, all with unwashed hands. Nick Michael (talk) 13:58, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Edit request
Christopher Chippindale states that Khazi derives from Army slang used by expatriate officers of the British Empire who took a dislike to the habbits and steaming rain forest inhabited by the people of the Khasia hills on the northern frontier of India.

78.105.150.108 (talk) 15:25, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

Reference
✅ Rd232 talk 16:22, 25 March 2010 (UTC) scary

Edit request from Total cubicles, 6 May 2010
Notable toilet and cubicle manufacturer []"Total Cubicle Solutions" provides and extensive range of units and also uses many digital 3D models on their website which create a very photo realistic view. I would like to include this website and also a picture from it as I own the website and would fully consent the use. e-mail links@totalcubicles.co.uk for further information

Total cubicles (talk) 10:04, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Not done: Wikipedia is not a forum for advertising. Celestra (talk) 13:55, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Racism
This page is racist because it does not include picture of toilet in Africa. --188.102.243.106 (talk) 18:53, 6 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Instead of complaining, why don't you provide such a picture and add it yourself? Andreas  (T) 21:06, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Comment
Observation on "loo" etymology: I have always thought that the origin of the word "loo" was pretty obvious but looking at this article and other discussions it appears that the etymology is a source of debate. This article presents (among other theories) the most obvious answer. Recall that for a long time French was the official language of England and the English even developed their own variant of English (for example, cul de sac is a British French expression). And until the 20th century the French language was considered a prerequisite among English high society for being considered educated. It is not hard to image that Englishmen would refer to water closet as the lieu (i.e. place) to be less vulgar. Similarly it is not difficult to imagine that less educated people pronounced and spelled this "loo". Anybody have a good source on this?

--Mcorazao (talk) 21:46, 5 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Paul Beale, in his appendix to Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1984) writes: [Eric Partridge's] first suggested etym. was either Fr. l'eau or gardy-loo, but he later amended this: 'Far more prob. suggested by Waterloo station in London, itself named after the battle. In Fr. colloquialism, le water is elliptical for water-closet, and the loo part of Waterloo suggests Fr. l'eau, water.' But as R.S. [Ramsey Spencer] has remarked, 1977, there is still another theory worth consideration: 'The bordalou, much used in C.18 by ladies traveling or in other privy difficulties on drawn-out social occasions. Portable in a muff [sic], its artistic quality and shape have sometimes led to its being mistaken nowadays for a sauce boat. The name is said to derive from Louis Bordaloue, the fashionable and prolix Jesuit preacher of Louis XIV's reign. The first known example, made in Delft, dates from 1710—and the article became very much "the thing".' A case can also be made that loo is cognate with 'leeward', since on board a small boat that is the side one would use…. or might it simply be an anglicized lieu, 'the place', as in the frequently mispronounced 'time off in lieu/loo [of time worked]'?


 * I certainly don't think any of these derivations are "pretty obvious", and 25 years after the above was written, the origin of the word is still as obscure as ever. Nick Michael (talk) 23:00, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

More about "loo" etimology. In Spain (I don't know if in other countries too), watercloset doors used to be marked with the number "100" (which indeed ressembles the word "loo"). It is said that hotels had no 100 room, because this number was reserved for the watercloset.

I expect it's because Wikipedia is American, but there seems some confusion [note, French added many hundreds of words to the English language, apart from cul-de-sac, but then George Bush once remarked that the French didn't even have a word for entrepreneur, when he was wanting to put the French down for not supporting an illegal invasion of Iraq]. Toilet actually means [and yes, it's another French word] to clean onself [pron: twa-let], that's why there is 'eau de toilet' or 'toilet water', not for splashing on your bum though. A toilet is a washroom many of which will also have a lavatory and public ones a urinal, and what this whole article appears to be describing is a lavatory or water closet [WC]. To 'do ones toilet' is to clean and dress, not defecate. I love the bordalou mentioned above, leading to the portaloo! [imagine said with a French accent]. Of course everyone now says 'I'm going to the toilet, a euphemism for going for a shit, but that doesn't change the underlying meaning and I thought Wikipedia would stick to what's correct rather than what's commonly thought. Are we really at the point of our crumbling civilisation when euphemisms become the norm and derivations are forgotten? Oh dear.
 * "'Toilet'" does not mean "to clean oneself", but is a diminutive of the French word toile, meaning a square or rectangle of cloth. Before the above editor thinks this must refer to hygienic paper, let me assure him that it merely described the cloth set on a woman's dressing table. As for euphemisms becoming the norm, can anyone inform me for which word toilet (or lavatory, or john, or bathroom etc.) is the euphemism? I've been searching for it for years, without success... Nick Michael (talk) 21:18, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * There are many words in which there no universally accepted origin of the word. In those cases, Wikipedia should present all plausible and well-sourced etymologies. Speaking of sources: might want to read this one. OhNo itsJamie  Talk 20:52, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Gender and queues
The article does not mention that in sex-segregated toilets, for the same number of visitors, the female queue is longer than the male one. I guess that somebody has devoted some thought to this. Are there other solutions in practice beyond gender-neutral toilets? Such as: different number of closed WC for males and females,... --Error (talk) 00:48, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Bog Etymology
There appears to be no longer a section for the "Bog" Etymology. This should be restored or rewritten. --Hm2k (talk) 11:21, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Khazi
This section seems to be without decent references. It doesn't seem so presumable that Khazi derived from the Italian "casa". Also it is common in other places outside Liverpool including the south coast. 90.5.93.206 (talk) 02:28, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from Aloha181818, 21 August 2010
Loo In Hawaii, a "lua" is a hole or pit, and also a toilet. Local pidgin often calls 'the luaBold text', "da luItalic text" (pronounced "loo") for short...If you come from Hawaii you would think THIS is the source of the term "loo"!

Aloha181818 (talk) 05:43, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Please provide a reliable reference for your statement, so we can add it to the article. Chevy  monte  carlo  07:51, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Seems to be original research.  Jmlk  1  7  21:35, 21 August 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from 24.248.56.182, 9 September 2010
It was said to believe that the earliest form of the modern toilet originated in the what is now known today as Japan. Mr. Yurin Toiwa of Hiroshima designed the concept of the toilet with a complex idea of a series of tubes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.248.56.182 (talk) 13:13, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

Images
I understand that a toilet is something nearly everyone has in their house in the western world, but is there any need for the pile-up of images on the right-hand side of the content box. I agree that there should be images displaying a range of toilets - but some of the images could be included in a gallery to avoid the crowding (see WP:IG). Thanks -- George 2001hi  (Discussion)   19:47, 5 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Agreed. The less clutter the better!  Jmlk  1  7  19:48, 5 September 2010 (UTC)
 * What does "clutter" have to do with quality? It's very useful with all the pictures, especially for travellers. Santamoly (talk) 15:04, 18 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes I agree; the images are useful, but aren't very presentable in the cluttered fashion they are currently placed in. Some of the images disrupt the text and look at the piling of image next to the contents or the huge gap in the History section. I suggest placing them in a image gallery possibly at the bottom. -- George 2001hi  (Discussion)  16:24, 18 October, 2010

I love coming to this article
I do love coming to this article every so often to see what the 'Wanks' (wanking yanks) do to, and think of, it. They are so un-civilised that they think you're poor for hanging your washing on a line to dry instead of using an electric dryer. (Dear Yank, I'm being polite. The sun not only does the drying but it kills germs; and it's free). Please, please can we have an explanation as to why Yanks call 'toilets/WC' (Britain, Australia and Europe), 'restrooms'! I think they must have to sit on one for a rest because the public places they visit are so mean they will not provide seats for people to rest, un-like 'civilised countries', as it costs money to provide seats! After-all, money is the most important thing to Yanks. If you came to my house and asked for the 'bathroom', I would not expect you to piss or shit in the shower/bath but to wash yourself. Now, if the USA was a rich country, they would have separate toilets and bathrooms so you could have someone pissing/shitting without another knocking on the door, like I had when I was in The USA.Molbrum (talk) 18:18, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from 203.87.178.22, 16 October 2010
WC The WC refers to the initial letters of Water Closet, used commonly in France (pronounced "le vay-say" or "le vater"), Romania (pronounced "veh-cheu") and Hungary (pronounced "vey-tsay"). The term is also used in the Netherlands (pronounced "waysay"), Germany (pronounced "ve-tse"), Denmark (pronounced "ve-se"), and Norway (pronounced "vay-say") [Pronunciation incorrect for norway, I'm a norwegian and we dont pronounce it "vay-say" in the official dialect, there may be some minor dialect that pronounce it that way.. But for the official dialects Bokmål and Nynorsk its pronounced "ve-se" (norwegian pronunciation of "VC") ] and Poland (pronounced "vu-tse"). WC, despite being an English language abbreviation widely used internationally, is a term not in common use in English-speaking countries like the United Kingdom or the United States.

[Pronunciation incorrect for norway, I'm a norwegian and we don't pronounce it "vay-say" in the official dialect, there may be some minor dialect that pronounce it that way. But for the official dialects Bokmål and Nynorsk its pronounced "ve-se" (norwegian pronunciation of "VC") ]

To attempt to describe the pronunciation it's more like Vae-Sae in the best way I can describe it without actually recording it.. hehe.. Feel free to contact me if this is confusing..

mail: lars.rones@gmail.com Norwegian pronunciation of WC is wrong. Should be like the Danish ve-se. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.71.89.63 (talk) 21:37, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

203.87.178.22 (talk) 06:09, 16 October 2010 (UTC)

Not done: You'd need a reliable source for that change, personal experience is not verifiable. The existing content should be sourced as well, so I'll add a tag to that section. Celestra (talk) 13:24, 16 October 2010 (UTC)

The world "Toilet"
As I was talking to some friends about different words used in reference to the bathroom.. such as "water closet", "latrine" and "lavitory", I suddenly wondered where the word came from and I figured if anyone would have an explanation Wikipedia would. Imagine my surprise, however, when I didn't find a single reference to the word itself in the entire article. Unless I've missed it of course, since this is a rather large article, and I suppose it is possible. But if it really isn't in here, why isn't it in here?--Dakmordian (talk) 23:43, 27 October 2010 (UTC)

Bog
Someone needs to add Bog into the Etymology section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.26.112.234 (talk) 20:06, 21 November 2010 (UTC)

There should be a new sub-heading to reflect the enormous role the public lavatory has had on male homosexual culture. Both Herdt (1993) and Feldman (2010) mention the use of the public lavatory in the UK, USA and similar cultures as having provided, through the years until homosexuality was decriminalised, the only means for many gay males to meet. Humphreys in his early work on this subject - Tearoom Trade (1975) - covers the distinct and energetic culture of homosexuality and public lavatories. This sub-heading should perhaps read "the lavatory in sub-cultures" and could then also be used to address issues such as drugs, homelessness and prostitution. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Charlie1966 (talk • contribs) 11:09, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Extra info from an ex limey
toilets is were you wash your hands with —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.148.239.192 (talk) 08:19, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

I applaud the editors, who I think are all American, for allowing other country’s views to be applied to this forum. However, changes to one article should be reflected into other compatible ones.

This is a serious input of mine about TOILETS. I understand your requirement for references (re Edit request from 203.87.178.22 …, Not done). A few points re the article and discussion. Oh, and I’m also over 60.

1)	Spend a penny. In my early youth in Britain, to ‘Spend a penny’ meant you had to put a penny into the slot of the door mechanism (which kept it) before you could use a WC. Note, not a urinal. Thus, even to pee, a woman had to ‘spend a penny’.

2)	Flush water usage. I believe a company called Caroma in Australia invented a 4.5/3 litre dual flush toilet. I refer to your article on ‘Caroma’. I had one installed a few years ago. The Caroma article had one flaw, this cistern can ONLY be used with the appropriate pan that has been specifically designed for this cistern.

3)	Gender and public toilets. Nowhere do you mention the toilets of Europe where male and female enter the same facility. There is a cordoned-off urinal for men and shared WC’s for both men and women (sorry, yank speak: guys, obviously you’re all of the same sex). There is also no mention of the days (it might still happen today) when you went to a pub (bar) and going to the toilet involved paying a lady some money to do so. A true experience of mine. In a pub’s toilet in Brussels, I was ‘doing my business’ at the urinal and I talked to the girl I was with who was waiting in a line of females standing behind me who wanted to use the two WC’s. Your ‘Gender-neutral toilet’ article needs to be changed so it’s not so Yank orientated (Note: Toilet is different from a Restroom).

4)	Toilets/Discussion/Images. Images of the same sort of thing are superfluous. However, a picture is worth a thousand words. Please stop using the American ‘Restroom’ and change ‘This public restroom’ to ‘The blue light’.

5)	Japanese toilets. Uses lots of water. Heated seats. I’ve used them. What a waste of water and power. Totally useless in a dry country like Australia.

6)	How toilet cisterns work. Automatic flushing used to be employed by allowing the water to fill-up an internal siphon so that when full, the cistern would empty on its own. Molbrum (talk) 13:48, 18 January 2011 (UTC)


 * A nice update there ex-Limey. Have to agree with a lot of it based on growing up in Australia in the 1950s. I will always recall that fine piece of toilet graffiti....


 * Here I sit
 * Broken hearted
 * Paid a penny and only farted


 * Very evocative. And demonstrates perfectly that the penny was only required for sitting activities.


 * We have an article on the dual flush toilet. Yes the cistern and pan need to be matched for full effectiveness, but they do save water. Holidaying in the USA a couple of years ago I instantly recognised some such systems in use at Grand Canyon Village which serves the Grand Canyon National Park, and has it's closest significant water supply a mile vertically below it. So Americans have begun to discover them. HiLo48 (talk) 01:01, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Edit Request for Recent investment in Toilet Technology by Bill Gates
Reference - .98.82.80.189 (talk) 23:28, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

mechanics
The mechanics of a toilet are quite simple, including the lid there are 8 main components to a flush toilet. Out of those only 4 of the 7 have a mechanical role. Out of the five replaceable parts only three are vital to the effective operation of the toilet, the flapper,the fill valve, and the wax ring. The other parts which are repairable are the seat and the flush arm. the remainig parts that are NOT repairable are the ceramic pieces, the bowl, the tank, and the lid.

The toilet operates using the energy produced by gravity. Water in the bowl is maintained at a level equal to the lowest point in the P-trap. The P-trap is the name given to devices and designs in plumbing associated with blocking a plumbed route with water. BY doing this two things are accomplished in the function of the toilet. 1. Prevents methane gas and odor from escaping through the toilet into the area where the toilet is located. 2. Creates a level that water must reach before it can escape into the sewer system. Thus creating the ever present water in the bowl. In order to activate the flush, the tank which usually sits on top, or some other source of water must be called to the bowl. In a common household toilet this can be done by pressing the FLUSH ARM. The flush arm is connected to a Flapper. Flappers have the job of blocking the exit from the tank to the bowl.

In operation. The flush arm is pressed the chain lifts the flapper and water from the tank is released rapidly into the bowl bringing the level above the low point in the ptrap. If the proper amount of water enters the bowl the evacution of water over the p-trap creates a vaccuum drawing all the contents of the bowl up and over the p trap until the seal is comprimised and the Flush is acheived. After the tank has emptied the flapper falls back into position and the tank fills to a level that is established by adjusting the FILL VALVE. The fill valve is the part that connects to a supply line and has a limit switch as a part of its construction. When the desired water level is reached the limit switch is activated and water flow is ceased. The toilet is then ready to operate again. Reverofevil (talk) 16:35, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Public toilet section
Today I went over this section with basically a cleaver and reduced it down in size greatly for good reason. There already is a page for public toilet and many items that I found were specific to advertising a product for consumers. I thought the section on latrines was very good..however..there is a page on latrines so I moved it there.

The mention of the monks also already had it's own page. Mentions of long lines at the woman's toilet doesn't in my opinion belong here either. Well you can look back in history for today to see all changes if interested. Overall I hope what I have is clean and understandable. Pbmaise (talk) 10:48, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Dangers of sitting on the toilet
There should be a section in the article mentioning specific dangers of sitting on the toilet, such as falling in and the suction from flushing causing you to get stuck and require help getting out. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.194.150.96 (talk) 09:10, 15 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Yes, sure. If you can find quality, reliable sources documenting those issues, go for it. HiLo48 (talk) 09:27, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Toilet types
Certain toilet types aren't mentioned:
 * Seawater toilet; developed by Tessa van den Brandt
 * Vacuum toilet; developed by Grietje Zeeman /DeSaH
 * Microwave toilet; developed by Georgios Stefanidis
 * Algae toilet; developed by Bas Ibelings (NIOO-KNAW) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.182.172.157 (talk) 13:56, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

WC and Water-closet
The history/ethimology section misses the word «Water-closet». According to google books the term was in use in the 18 century.

According to Alexandre Dumas and Les Miserables de Londres this term was also in use in english in the 1850s.

This term has its importance for havin been imported in France, its heavy use replaces the term cabinet, before it been replaced by the word water or the abrevisation WC which is the standard word nowadays in France. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.100.0.8 (talk) 11:44, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

Only American toilets mentioned!
Why has reference to the Australian company Caroma's 3/4.5 litre toilet been removed from this Talk page?

Is it because you consider that the only toilet that should be mentioned MUST be American. Obviously, ALL American dual-flush toilets have a push-pull button. In Australia, dual-flush toilets are normally dual button type.

Caroma's 3/4.5 l toilet (must have both cistern and pan designed for it) are real. You just need to research it. Oh! it wasn't designed in the good old USA so it doesn't count.

What with car seat belts, you're years behind the civilised world. Molbrum2 (talk) 15:32, 6 May 2012 (UTC)


 * It was archived as all older discussions are. You can still see it. There is no American plot to remove mention of Australian toilets. Also, fyi, insults are not the best way to get questions answered. 70.90.87.73 (talk) 22:13, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

Fuller
The quote in the article refers to 'fuller'. People may not know what a fuller is, so perhaps someone can link to the wikipedia article on Fulling — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.230.128.205 (talk) 15:45, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Done. Nick Michael (talk) 07:53, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

World Toilet Organization
World Toilet Organization (WTO) is a global non-profit organization committed to improving sanitation conditions for people globally through powerful advocacy, inventive technology, education and building marketplace opportunities locally. Approximately 2.6 billion (or about 1/2 of the world's population) do not have a toilet.

External Links:

World Toilet Organization

World's Toilet Crisis (Video by Vanguard, Current Channel. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Katie0873 (talk • contribs) 04:55, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Critique of the History Section
Specifically regarding the History section, there appear to be several issues with the text. From checking the Google books preview of page 351 of Dick Teresi’s book, Lost Discoveries, listed in the references, the first paragraph in the Ancient Civilizations section appears to be a direct quote. This text should be noted as such or reworded. Also the overall structure of the history section seems to be a bit disjointed and jumps from subject to subject with no clear links. The Section on Early modern Europe goes from the crusader states to early modern Europe, to the Victorian era and then for no reason jumps back to the 16th century. A little more organization in the method that the information is presented would not be amiss.

The images presented are all relevant and provide excellent examples of ancient toilets from around the world, the only image that might be relevant to add would be a 19th century European of American water closet in order to round out the scope of the images.

Specifically regarding the American section, sources such as Martin Melosi’s The Sanitary City and Joel Tarr’s the Search for the Ultimate Sink could be used to give an applicable and highly specific source regarding the development of sanitation in The Unites States (see citations below). Information such as the fact that many of the North American cities had tap water and water closets/ toilets introduced into homes before sewer systems were put in place would be especially important to note and Melosi and Tarr can both provide credible sources for that information. In general the sources used in this article could be more specialized in their scope. The Victorian House and the Mission and Method: The Early Nineteenth-Century French Public Health Movement both provide excellent specific examples of the use and development of toilets through history, but the other sources could be improved. Teresi’ for example may not be the most credible source on ancient toilets. there are also more specific sources than the genreal survesy of technology referenced here.

It is of note that the “History of water supply and sanitation” article linked at the top of the history section is in an even worse state than this history of toilets section. All of the references in that article appear to be form sources not relevant to sanitation except in the fact that human wastes were used in saltpeter manufacture for gunpowder. At least one of the two sections should be improved on with more relevant sources and an expansion of the topic. In the end both of these articles need to be improved on to more thoroughly cover the topic of the history of sanitation and the toilet. Breaking this history section out into developments of individual civilizations for the Ancient section and providing better organization for the American and European sections would be helpful.

Melosi, Martin V. The Sanitary City: Urban Infrastructure in America from Colonial Times to the Present. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.

Tarr, Joel A. The Search for the Ultimate Sink: Urban Pollution in Historical Perspective. Akron, Ohio: University of Akron Press, 1996.

HIST406-13HWeiland (talk) 23:25, 17 February 2013 (UTC)

Need a section about toilet history and evolution
The title says it. I wanted to learn some toilet history from this article, but all it has is a few pictures of ancient toilets and a few sentences describing them. We need more stuff about the evolution of the modern toilet that's used extensively in lots of 1st World countries. McBenjamin (talk) 02:59, 6 July 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 30 August 2013
Hi, I would like to recommend a very good in depth article that I think could be added to the reference section of this Wiki and maybe other relevant ones as well? The URL is http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/the-history-of-the-toilet Many thanks in advance of your reply. Ant

Historyant (talk) 11:56, 30 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: We don't add references to articles unless they actually reference something the article says. If this does reference something, you need to say what it is. Jackmcbarn (talk) 02:32, 31 August 2013 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 17 January 2014
74.215.249.191 (talk) 02:18, 17 January 2014 (UTC)chicken
 * No request made. Maralia (talk) 03:13, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

Etymology
The Welsh call the outhouse style a "Ty bach", a little house. They were sometimes heated by being placed next door to the pigsty, which had the added benefit of feeding the animal and disposing of the waste. The use of pigs in this way is something not noted in mediaeval history, but in Brussels for certain a semi-feral herd was kept in the area of Madou, and released on Thursdays, to clear the streets. The danger of these animals was such that most of the town closed down that afternoon, and that remains something of a tradition, long after the pigs were replaced by the Regional Government building. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.218.129.144 (talk) 08:43, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Toilets in schools in India
At least some governments in India have insisted that all schools in their jurisdiction should have working toilets, but this has not been entirely achieved. See this reference:  Eastmain (talk • contribs)  17:35, 5 October 2014 (UTC)