Andrew,
I've never been anywhere in the US where the term "toilet" would be
considered vulgar; that's a bit harsh; unusual would be a better
description. Polite terms commonly heard in the States are: Mens/Ladies
Room, Restroom, Bathroom, Lavatory. On the vulgar side would be shitter,
crapper. Fairly neutral would be Head.
Charlie
On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 4:16 PM, Andrew Fildes <afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I think the point is the increasingly negative connotation - the
> treadmill. What starts as a euphemism becomes increasingly negative,
> unacceptable or pejorative until ironically it exceeds the
> offensiveness of the original term.
> I agree that 'concentration camp' is a poor example, partly because it
> became so offensive, but I can understand the original concept of
> concentration in this case. The American usage of 'ass' is better and
> I understand that 'toilet' is considered quite vulgar there although
> not in Europe, despite its rather elegant origins. 'Men's Room' is
> just dreadful.
> Andrew Fildes
> afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
> On 08/12/2009, at 12:05 AM, Chris Barker wrote:
>
> > This is utter rubbish, Andrew! It's a good example of the dunny you
> > might find on Wikipedia. It remained a "concentration" whether it
> > was the British or the Germans. And what is "enormous negative
> > connotation" in English?
>
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