THE TOILET AND ITS SYNONYMS

As a visitor to a foreign country, you will definitely need to ask for the toilet.The English language offers a great number of words, which may vary not only from country to country, but also in degree of formality. It is important to note that some terms are very colloquial and, therefore, should be avoided in public and/or professional situations, mainly when you do not know the person you are talking to.

1. Lavatory = more formal expression, often used in airplanes.
2. Toilet= general expression in British English used by almost everybody.In American English, the word toilet refers to the fixture itself and not to the room that it is in.
3. Washroom= a room with a toilet and a place to wash your hands in it, in a public place such as a restaurant or school.
4. Loo=  British informal word for lavatory.
5. John= an informal American word for a toilet or bathroom. e.g I gotta go to the john.
6. Bog= British informal word, but sounds a little impolite.
7. Dunny= informal Australian/ New Zealand English.
8. Crapper= vulgar word for toilet.
9. Water closet = Another euphemism 'water closet' is often used in restaurants and hotels. Nowadays it has been shortened to the acronym ‘W.C.’.
10. 'ladies' and 'gentlemen' are the traditional notices posted outside public toilets in the UK. 'Gentlemen' has become abbreviated to ‘gents’.
11. powder room= a polite word for a women's toilet in a public building, such as a restaurant, hotel, theatre, etc.
12. The smallest room = An euphemism for toilet, which is now rather dated and is little used.
13. Little boys' room / little girls' room e.g Can you please tell me where the little girls’ room is?
14. Restroom= American word for toilet; a room with a toilet for customers to use in a restaurant or other public place.
15. Public convenience = it is a polite way to refer to public toilet.
16. Bathroom =1) in British English, it is a room in a house that contains a bath or shower, a washbasin, and sometimes a toilet. 2) General word in American English.
17. .An en-suite bathroom = it is directly connected to a bedroom: e.g I ‘d like to stay in a hotel room with an en-suite bathroom.

Here are some common expressions that English-speakers use to ask where the toilet is situated.

“Where is the ______________?”

“Can/ Could you tell me where the __________ is?

“Which way is the _____________?”

“I need to use the _________, where can I find it?

“Excuse me, where can I find the _______________?

‘Can/ Could I use the___________, please?

Obviously, in casual situations, native speakers use zillion ways to say that they need to use the toilet. However, as learners of English, you just need to use the following sentences in order to sound informal but polite.

"Excuse me, I have to go to the ________”.

“Excuse me, I’m just going to the________”

‘Excuse me, I just need to use the _______"

OTHER WAYS TO SAY PREGNANT IN ENGLISH

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, an euphemism is a word or phrase used to avoid saying an unpleasant or offensive word. I wonder why nowadays we need to use euphemisms to say that a woman is pregnant. Is pregnancy still regarded as a taboo subject?

Anyway, I have been searching a couple of dictionaries in order to find out whether some terms which stand for ‘pregnant' are euphemisms or not. Although it may well be argued that some words are rather old-fashioned, apparently they are still frequent in everyday conversations. Moreover, there seems to be no consensus among lexicographers when it comes to classifying the synonyms. They might appear in dictionaries and websites as idioms, slangs, informal language, euphemisms, and so on. No matter what we call these expressions, some of them undoubtedly have a humorous effect. Don’t you think so?

Believe it or not, I have found out that the expression 'in the family way', in the course of time, has acquired a more derogatory tone and has been used to refer to unmarried pregnant women. Does it imply that society still expects pregnant women to be married and, consequently, that the use of an euphemism instead of the word ‘pregnant' reveals prejudice? 

All things considered, are there any equivalent expressions / euphemisms in your native language? In Portuguese, which is my mother tongue, for instance, we say : ‘estar em estado interessante’, 'estar buchuda', whose literal translation into English would be ‘to be in an interesting state' and ‘with a big belly’. The former term is an euphemism, whereas the latter is just a colloquial word. Apart from the terms quoted above, we use the expression ‘estar esperando a cegonha', which means exactly the same as ‘to  expect the visit from the stork.' Interestingly enough, in both languages storks are associated with delivering babies.

If you are a native speaker of English, could you please let me know the expressions you use nowadays? 

EUPHEMISMS IN ENGLISH.

EXAGGERATING IN ENGLISH

Como Exagerar em Inglês

A hipérbole é uma figura de linguagem que utilizamos para expressar um exagero intencional. Normalmente, exageramos quando queremos enfatizar algo,  precisamos ser ouvidos, ou,  porque não dizermos,  queremos convencer alguém daquilo que sentimos.

Listo abaixo algumas maneiras de exagerar ou enfatizar em inglês.

• I’m speechless ( =Estou sem palavras ou seja, a emoção é tamanha, que não sei o que dizer.)
• I’m shattered /I’m a wreck -= I’m exhausted, very tired (= Estou acabado, destruído)
• I’m sick and tired of it/ I’m fed up. -Eg. I’m sick and tired of my job/ I’m fed up with this situation. (=estou cheio, estou farto dessa situação/ do meu emprego)
• I’m astonished.= I'm very shocked,  very surprised. (= estou espantado)
• I'm dying for a drink. /I am dying of shame.(I’m very thirsty)= (Significa estar morrendo de vontade)
• I’m craving for a cigarette (=Usado quando a pessoa está com uma imensa vontade, ânsia)
• I’m bored stiff = I’m very bored. ( quando se está muito entediado por não ter nada de interessante para fazer.
• I'm scared stiff. I'm very afraid. ( quando se está apavorado)
• I'm starving.= I'm very hungry. ( =quando a pessoa está faminta)
• I'm going out of ( outta) my mind. = I’m getting crazy. (=Quando a pessoa perde a noção do que está acontecendo. )
• I'm over the moon = I’m very happy (=expressão idiomática para dizer que está muito feliz, é o mesmo que dizermos, em português, “nas nuvens”)
• My gramma is as old as the hills.( very old)
• It’s a rip-off/ It costs a fortune. It's very expensive. = (É um roubo!)
• It’s  a bargain ( diz-se de algo muito barato, uma pechincha)
• It's a nightmare.= It's a very difficult situation to believe that it is true. ( =é tão difícil acreditar que a se pensa estar vivendo um pesadelo)
• It's killing me.=  It's very painful ( = é difícil suportar)
• It drives me crazy./ It drives me up the wall/ It drives me nuts = It makes me very angry.  Expressões utilizadas para exprimir raiva. 'It drives me up the wall'' é muito utilizada no inglês britânico,  enquanto “it drives me nuts”  é uma expressão idiomática americana.
• It takes forever/ ages.= It takes a very long time. I haven’t seen him for ages.= há séculos
• It weighs a ton= It's very heavy.
• I’ve heard that a million times/a zillion times= several times
• He lives in a huge house= very big
• I’m dreadfully sorry= I’m very sorry. Usamos quando a pessoa sente muito mesmo.
• She’s suffered terribly over the years/  I’m terribly/ awfully sorry to hear about the death of your mother.
• It’s incredibly difficult to pass this exam.
• I'm absolutely delighted that you can come. (= very pleased).

Espero que tenham gostado das dicas. Até o próximo post. Cheers!