Monday, August 20, 2007

Impact of public restrooms on health

Have you ever wondered what exactly is up with Health and Restrooms, and even more precisely: the impact of public restrooms on health? In other words, how can public washrooms affect health, but also your your mood?

This informative blog can give you an insight into everything you've ever wanted to know about Health and Restrooms, with a great, real-life story of a "normal" restroom experience... Please bookmark this page and come back in the next few days for new posts on health and restrooms!

Monday, August 06, 2007

Etymology - Terms used to design the word "toilet"

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Etymology - Terms used to design the word "toilet"
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A toilet is a plumbing fixture devised for the disposal of bodily wastes, including urine, feces, menses and vomit. The word toilet can be used to refer to the fixture itself or the room containing it.

The word toilet came to be used in English along with other French fashions (first noted 1681), and originally referred to the whole complex of operations of hairdressing and body care that centered on a dressing table covered to the floor with cloth (toile) and lace, on which stood a dressing glass, which might also be draped in lace: the ensemble was a toilette. Alexander Pope in The Rape of the Lock (1717) described the intricacies of a lady's preparation:

'And now, unveil'd, the toilet stands display'd
Each silver vase in mystic order laid.'

Through the 18th century, everywhere in the English-speaking world, a toilet remained a lady's draped dressing-table. The word was adapted as a genteel euphemism for water-closet, perhaps following the French usage cabinet de toilette, much as powder-room may be coyly used today, and this has been linked to the introduction of public toilets, for example on railway trains, which required a plaque on the door. The original usage has became indelicate and largely replaced by dressing-table.

The word toilet itself may be considered an impolite word in the United States, whilst elsewhere the word is used without any embarrassment. When referring to the room or the actual piece of equipment, the word toilet is often substituted with other euphemisms (and dysphemisms) such as:

bathroom

bog
can
cloakroom
commode
convenience
crapper
dump tank
dunny
facility or facilities
gentlemen's
gents
heads

khazi

john
ladies'
ladies'/ men's room
ladies'/ men's lounge
lavatory
little boys'/girls' room
long drop
loo
men's
necessary

place of easement
powder room
privy
restroom
shit-house
shitter
smallest room
stables
throne
washroom
water chamber
and water closet (or WC)


... and may I add the word "HigiSeat", this designation from the company InterHygiene in Portugal, for an automatic toilet seat recovered by a sanitary hygienic plastic sleeve? ;-)

OK, OK, back to education:

The origin of the (chiefly British) term loo is unknown, but a popular theory is that it derives from "Gardy loo!", a corruption of the French phrase garde l'eau loosely translated as "watch out for the water!" The phrase served as a warning to passers-by when chamber pots and other waste receptacles were emptied from a window onto the street, as was common practice before cities had sewer systems.

As old euphemisms have become accepted, they have been progressively replaced by newer ones, an example of the euphemism treadmill at work.


That's all for now, folks!
I'll write more about the different type of existing toilets and about some History too (very interesting, you'll see!) in another blog, so bookmark this page and come back soon for the link!

Meanwhile, have a look at some more useful safety and health advice.

Bye!

CoolGuy