Definition: toilets-lavatories

Toilets refer to "lavatories" designed to allow people to relieve themselves of bodily waste such as urine, faeces or vomit.
The term "toilet" refers to the sanitary facilities and/or the room in which they are installed. In general, it refers to a system where waste is flushed away with water into a sewer or septic tank. A more rudimentary system (such as a simple hole in the ground) is called an "outhouse" (particularly in military parlance) or "latrine". The term "dry toilet" is also used when there is no flush and the excrement is reused to make compost.
In a house, toilets are now located in a dedicated room or in a bathroom. In the past, they were often located outside; toilets are also a component of the sanitation system.

Etymology and terminology:
Like other French fashions of the 1680s, the word "toilette" was used in many countries and originally referred to the hair and body care items placed on a dressing table covered with fabric and lace, on which there was a mirror that could also be draped with lace: the whole ensemble was a toilette.
The word "toilette" was adopted as a euphemism for "water closet" from the expression "salle de toilette" (toilet room), although "powder room" can be used in a modest or euphemistic way today. This change was linked to the introduction of public toilets (such as on trains), which required a sign on the door. The original use became indelicate and was largely replaced by the dressing table. Remnants of the original meaning are reflected in terms such as toiletries and eau de toilette. The word "toilettes" itself may be considered rude in some regions, and elsewhere used without embarrassment.

In Switzerland, Federal Councillor (Minister) Rudolf Minger (1881-1955), who came from a farming background in Bern, was known for his down-to-earth wit. Take a look:

Federal Councillor Minger sometimes attended receptions in high society in French-speaking Switzerland, always accompanied by a chief of protocol who drove him there by car.
Upon arriving at a beautiful residence, he would briefly greet the hostess and say to her with a strong accent: "It was a long journey from Bern; where are the toilets?"
At the end of the reception, the chief of protocol explained to him: "Mr Federal Councillor, if the occasion arises again, it would be more polite to ask: where can I wash my hands?"

On another trip, Mr Minger had learned his lesson well. He arrived at a beautiful property. The hostess welcomed him warmly and immediately asked: "Mr Federal Councillor, you've had a long journey; would you like to wash your hands?"
He replied, with a strong Swiss German accent: "Ah, thank you, but there's no need, I did that against a tree when I arrived!"

Back in Bern, a lady in his entourage, knowing that he had attended a large reception, asked him: "In this magnificent property, one is always well received – were the toilets beautiful?"

The Federal Councillor replied, with a strong accent: "I don't know, I didn't go there!"


In France, people commonly say les toilettes (plural), while in French-speaking Belgium, they tend to say la toilette (singular). They also say les cabinets, les latrines, les WC, or les vécés (pronounced "wécés" in French-speaking Belgium). In Quebec, "la toilette" or "les toilettes" are used interchangeably, although the expressions "salle de bain" and "salle de toilette" are also used.

In slang, people say "chiottes". The expression "cabinet de toilette" refers more to the bathroom. "WC" is the abbreviation of the English "water closet", but this expression is unusual in English-speaking countries, where the euphemism "rest-room" is used (especially in the United States; but when referring to the device itself, the term "water closet" is used).
When referring to the room or plumbing equipment, the word "toilette" is often replaced by other euphemisms (and dysphemisms) such as "salle de bains" (bathroom), "commodités" (facilities), "la salle nécessaire" (the necessary room), "salle des messieurs" or "salle des dames" (men's or ladies' room), "la plus petite pièce" (the smallest room) or "le petit coin" (the little corner), "le trône" (the throne) or "la salle de trône" (the throne room), "salle de toilette" (toilet room), chambre à l'eau (from the English, W.C. or "water closet") or cabinet d'aisance.
The origin of "loo" (the British euphemism) is unknown, but it is suspected to come from "Gardy loo!", a corruption of "guard the water", the expression used to warn passers-by when chamber pots and other waste receptacles were emptied from a window onto the street, a common practice before cities had sewer systems.

Public toilets:
Public toilets can be individual or communal. When toilets are communal, they have cubicles closed off by individual partitions, as well as washbasins in a separate area, where other people of the same sex are present. It is important to note that toilets for disabled people contribute to the research of the diseases that disable them. Washbasins may be shared by both sexes.
Facilities reserved for men often have separate urinals, fixed to the wall and designed for a single user, or a basin or bowl for collective use. Wall-mounted urinals are sometimes separated by small partitions to preserve privacy, i.e. to hide the user's genitals from view.
In Paris, they were called vespasiennes, or tasses in homosexual slang, and only had urinals. They appeared in 1834 at the behest of the Prefect of the Seine, Count Claude-Philibert de Rambuteau. Mocked by the opposition, who quickly christened the kiosk the "Rambuteau column", he coined the expression "colonne vespasienne" (Vespasian column) in memory of Emperor Vespasian, who was credited with establishing public urinals in Rome. The nicknames multiplied. "The Rambuteau kiosks were called pistières. No doubt in his childhood he had not heard the o, and it had stuck with him. So he pronounced the word incorrectly but perpetually" (Marcel Proust, Le Temps retrouvé, p. 749). Contemporaries of Proust, homosexuals in the 16th arrondissement used the coded term baies, which was more chic than the slang term tasses, while others, more popular, had christened them Ginette. The term pissotière, referring to the "hole in the wall of a ship to allow surface water to drain away", has remained.

The end of free public toilets in Paris was voted by the Paris Council on 28 January 1980, and the first four pay-to-use sanisettes were built. A concession contract for these sanisettes (registered trademark in 1980) between the Paris City Council and the company JC Decaux was signed in 1991.
Pay-to-use toilets:
Some public toilets can be used free of charge, but others require payment. This can be done in several ways:
* deposit on an unattended tray,
* deposit in a box with a slot,
* deposit in the slot of a turnstile or spring door,
* via an attendant, commonly known as a 'Dame-pipi', who is often also
responsible for cleaning.
The use of pay-to-use public toilets is the origin of the British euphemism for urination, "to spend a penny".
In many railway and bus stations, pay toilets were installed during the 1950s and 1960s, but many of them were subsequently removed due to vandalism of the coin mechanisms.
Public toilets separated by gender:
Gender separation is so characteristic of public toilets that pictograms symbolising a man or a woman are used to distinguish them. They have sometimes been criticised for perpetuating stereotypes.
Gender-separated public toilets are a source of difficulty for some people, for example, those accompanied by children of the opposite sex or men caring for babies when only the women's toilet has been equipped with a changing table for nappy changing.
It is often difficult for transgender or androgynous people to negotiate gender-segregated public toilets, and they are often subject to embarrassment, harassment, and even problems with the police. Transgender people have been arrested for using not only bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity, but also those that correspond to the gender they were assigned at birth.
A number of buildings have additional gender-neutral public toilets. These are also found (but rarely) in gay or transgender institutions and universities; more often than not, these toilets exist for a different reason — they are marked not for women or men, but for people with disabilities and are proportionately equipped to allow wheelchair users to use them.
Another issue raised is the insufficient number of women's toilets. Architects usually allocate the same amount of space and number of cubicles for both sexes, even though men use the cubicles less than women. Furthermore, women spend on average more time in the toilet than men, further increasing waiting times. Some public places in the United States and China take this into account and allocate cubicles according to a male/female ratio ranging from 2:3 to 1:5, depending on the location.
Toilets in private homes are almost never separated by gender.
Toilets on public transport:
Toilets are usually found on aeroplanes and in airports, on trains (except for limited-distance trains, such as commuter trains) and in stations, often on intercity buses and ferries, but not on underground trains, trams or city buses.
On trains, traditional toilets discharge waste directly onto the tracks, which is why many train toilets have a sign saying: "Please do not use the toilet when the train is stationary". On modern trains, the toilets are equipped with chemical toilets that are emptied at maintenance stations at terminal stations.
In aeroplanes, due to pressurisation, waste water is stored during the flight and emptied upon landing by specialised trucks.

Public toilets throughout history
Toilets appeared very early in history. In 2500 BC, the inhabitants of Harappa in India had water-flushed toilets in every house, connected by drains covered with baked clay bricks. There were also toilets in ancient Egypt and China.
Hygiene in ancient Rome:
In ancient Rome, toilets were sometimes part of public baths, which were generally mixed-gender facilities. Vespasian's toilets, the first public pay toilets, were invented by the Roman emperor Vespasian (9-79) to collect urine (which was then used by dyers and bleachers) and to collect a tax. Mocked for these penny-pinching measures, he is said to have replied that "money has no smell" (pecunia non olet). This phrase later became a proverb.
The invention of the flush toilet is attributed to the Englishman John Harrington in 1596. It was only after improvements were made during the Victorian era (probably due to Alexander Cummings rather than Thomas Crapper, as is commonly reported) that toilets became more widely used.
Before and during this transition period (which lasted until the 20th century in some regions), many people used outdoor "outhouses" (this joual word comes from the English "back house"), particularly in rural areas. This word is still used today in colloquial language in Quebec, although it is considered rude.
Toilets around the world:
The shapes and layouts of toilets vary according to country and culture, particularly due to different defecation habits: the posture varies (sitting or squatting), as does the method of anal cleaning (with toilet paper, water, or various objects) and the attitude towards faeces (which influences the subsequent use of excrement).
Germany and Hungary:
In Germany and Hungary, flat-bottomed toilets are more commonly used, as they prevent splashing and allow faeces to be examined for any abnormalities; incidentally, this also makes it much easier to perform colon cancer screening tests.
Japan:
Modern Japanese toilets are known for their advanced features, which may include a water jet for washing, electronic controls, ventilation, etc.
Slums:
In slums, where sanitation is often poor, the term "flying toilets" describes the use of plastic bags for defecation, which are thrown away at random after dark.

And for those who have read this entire definition, here are a few literary quotes about these places of relief:
"Nature in these places is secret and solitary;
des mortels orgueilleux confond la vanité,
leur montrant tour à tour
dans l'ombre et le mystère,
l'importante leçon de leur égalité."

Another text that we really liked is by Anna Lietti. It appeared in the daily newspaper Le Temps on 7 June 2004 and is entitled:

Pissing standing up

To be honest, gender equality does not come naturally to me. At times, I tend to think that women are still a little superior. After all, they are capable of doing several things at once, they don't need to shave in the morning, and they have procreation (so to speak) in the palm of their hand. Men, it's true, have one massive advantage: they can piss standing up. Their superiority in this area is overwhelming, there's no arguing with that. If I ever wish I were a man, it's for that reason. So that I too can stop the car by the river, at the top of the hill, step out lightly and, right there and then, wildly, without hindrance, without paper, without "do you have any change?" my nose in the air and my head in the clouds, merge into the great cycle of nature to the sound of my gurgling. Mmm. Where I measure my benevolence towards men is in realising that their privilege does not, despite everything, inspire any resentment in me. I watch those I love pee standing up and I am simply happy for them. My feeling of empathy increased tenfold on the day my little boy discovered, with wonder, the fabulous capabilities of his multidirectional organ. I was genuinely moved. I thought, "Laugh, my son, savour the simple joy of being a man, fill yourself with sunny certainties. You'll need them to face what comes next, when everything gets complicated." It's true, it's hard to be a boy these days. Fortunately, they still have this pleasure, which doesn't hurt anyone. Of course, when practised not by the river but in the toilet, it is often messy. All those droplets, so poetic when mixed with the morning dew, are just dirty when practised indoors. That's why women are starting to ask, or even demand, that their men pee sitting down. According to Le Matin's correspondent in Berlin, there are so many of them in Germany that they are snapping up a gadget that has recently come onto the market: a little "ghost" spy, which you stick under the seat and which starts talking when you lift it up. It can take on a female voice, calling her "darling" to order, or note in a sharp tone that with such a short device, the accuracy of the stream is not guaranteed. That cuts the wind out of the sails of the unruly. I would like to say to German women: count me out, girls. It's wonderful when a man decides of his own free will to sit on the toilet out of consideration for those around him. But wanting to train him to pull down his trousers is too much like an act of revenge. It's petty. And to my son, I say: resist, my boy. Is the ghost under the seat lecturing you? Shut him up, piss with the seat down. Yes, you can. If you clean up before you leave, no one will notice a thing. © Le Temps, 2004