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English is not my first language, so I may be completely wrong, but I always thought that 'loo' meant 'toilet', the thing itself as well as the small room with just a toilet and maybe a small sink, and not 'bathroom'. And yet I read stories in which people brush their teeth in the loo. So am I right or do people actually take a bath in the loo?

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  • Tell us what the dictionaries at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/loo have to say on the issue (be careful to follow the links therein to the same dictionaries). – Edwin Ashworth Oct 02 '13 at 22:27
  • possible duplicate of "Toilet", "lavatory" or "loo" for polite society – Giambattista Oct 02 '13 at 23:58
  • @JohnQPublic Does that question actually answer this one? I didn't notice a clear statement one way or another, but I may have overlooked it. – Bradd Szonye Oct 03 '13 at 03:21
  • @BraddSzonye Based on what I'd read, I thought it was clear that loo, lavatory, bathroom, washroom, restroom, toilet, and water closet were all synonyms depending on the country. Perhaps I'm wrong, but Merriam-Webster lists it as a cheifly British variant of toilet which it defines as a bathroom or the act of grooming oneself (which is new to me). Either way, I believe there was a consensus, but could be mistaken; the answer is readily available in a dictionary though. – Giambattista Oct 03 '13 at 04:34
  • Ditto for Roget's Thesaurus – Giambattista Oct 03 '13 at 04:36
  • Dictionaries don't get into the regional details of exactly what you find in a lavatory. They just lump it all together, but that doesn't mean that Brits lump all their plumbing together. – Bradd Szonye Oct 03 '13 at 04:39
  • That's exactly what a descriptive dictionary is supposed to do. They are supposed to chronicle all common language in use (standard, colloquial, non-standard, slang, archaic, dialectal, etc.), which is why you'll find words like brung, yo, and LOL in them. These are not prescriptive dictionaries. – Giambattista Oct 03 '13 at 17:26

2 Answers2

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Heh. In British English both 'toilet' and 'loo' are very often used to mean 'bathroom' (or 'lavatory' if you want what many would consider the correct British term), rather than just the item of bathroom furniture. Although extremely widespread, some Britons would still say that the use is 'wrong'.

Most British people find 'bathroom' an odd euphemism for a room where you usually do not take a bath (and 'restroom' still more so). Having moved from Britain to North America, I also know that 'toilet' (which I grew up saying) quickly begins to sound strange and even course to the ear, despite my best attempts to avoid language snobbery and cultural assimilation.

It's an example of 'U and non-U English'. More information can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_and_non-U_English

Also note, Wikipedia says 'loo' is "U". So, now I'm confused!

EDIT:

I see that you differentiate a small room with a toilet and sink, but no bath or shower, from a bathroom. Toilet and loo could be used to refer to all of the above.

The probably apochryphal story is that early train carriages had two rooms, one marked 'toilet', which contained the toilet, and one marked 'lavatory' which contained the sink, and that explains why the 'wrong' usage arose.

EDIT 2:

Having written all this, I realise I should have just linked to "Toilet", "lavatory" or "loo" for polite society

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fred2
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We don't have a bath[1] in the loo, but we often go to the loo in the bathroom.

Loo is a British word. In Britain it is common to have the toilet, shower, and bath all in the same room. That room is called the bathroom. In this situation, the loo is the thing you sit on in the bathroom. (I know what you're thinking. I think it's disgusting, too, and I was raised in Britain.)

A larger house might have a second toilet in its own room. In this situation, the loo is both the room, and the thing that you sit on. So there's a loo in the bathroom, and a loo in the loo. And there is also a small sink in the loo, so we can brush our teeth there if we want.

Footnote:

  1. Take a bath is American English. In British English we have a bath / shower.
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