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Even in newspapers such as the New York Times, apparently a bathroom is all things to all people: a restroom, a toilet, a washroom, and yes, a private residence's room in which you can do any of those things.
So yes, my pet peeve is people using the term bathroom when they are referring to a public restroom. I don't know why, but that just sounds so imprecise and uneducated to me. I remember being corrected as a child but apparently there is no distinction now? I used to only hear children make the mistake by calling their school restrooms bathrooms but now it's happening everywhere.
Even in newspapers such as the New York Times, apparently a bathroom is all things to all people: a restroom, a toilet, a washroom, and yes, a private residence's room in which you can do any of those things.
So yes, my pet peeve is people using the term bathroom when they are referring to a public restroom. I don't know why, but that just sounds so imprecise and uneducated to me. I remember being corrected as a child but apparently there is no distinction now? I used to only hear children make the mistake by calling their school restrooms bathrooms but now it's happening everywhere.
My house has two bathrooms. One of them doesn't have a bathtub in it. Yet it is still called a bathroom. It's no more of a misnomer than restroom. I don't rest in either of them. A half bathroom doesn't even have a shower, just a toilet and sink.
The function of language is communication, and here the meaning is very clear. The only 'issue' I can see is that the root of the word bathroom reflects something - ie, a bath - that some things called bathrooms don't have. But English absolutely teems with such words, so it's hard to see why using bathroom for a public place to urinate and/or defecate is a problem. Expecting words not to stray from the literal definitions of all their roots is folly.
Since this is the writing section, let's move the topic into writing. If you're going to write about a facility that's not in your house, and/or does not contain a bath/shower, then by all means don't write "bathroom." Write whatever word you want. Author's choice, and your editor won't get excited about it one way or another.
Even in newspapers such as the New York Times, apparently a bathroom is all things to all people: a restroom, a toilet, a washroom, and yes, a private residence's room in which you can do any of those things.
So yes, my pet peeve is people using the term bathroom when they are referring to a public restroom. I don't know why, but that just sounds so imprecise and uneducated to me. I remember being corrected as a child but apparently there is no distinction now? I used to only hear children make the mistake by calling their school restrooms bathrooms but now it's happening everywhere.
But why call it a restroom? You don't go there to rest.
Ever heard of a sponge bath? A sponge bath is entirely possible in a public "restroom."
Restroom itself is a misnomer, and probably a hangover from the days when there were entry rooms to the toilets with couches and ashtrays, where people could sit or lie down and have a smoke.
Even in newspapers such as the New York Times, apparently a bathroom is all things to all people: a restroom, a toilet, a washroom, and yes, a private residence's room in which you can do any of those things.
So yes, my pet peeve is people using the term bathroom when they are referring to a public restroom. I don't know why, but that just sounds so imprecise and uneducated to me. I remember being corrected as a child but apparently there is no distinction now? I used to only hear children make the mistake by calling their school restrooms bathrooms but now it's happening everywhere.
Yeah, no bathtub there...
But with the 2" gaps around the door frame, you can't rest there either ...
You could be "quite Continental" and just call it "the toilet".
At the resort where I worked, that's what all the Europeans called it. The signs too (in Europe).
I've noticed in books, no one seems to need the "facilities" anyway!
Right, but toilets in Europe look different. They separate the cabins from the hand wash area. Those are two separate rooms with doors. And of course, no gaps!!
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