A JOHN BY ANY OTHER NAME

26 CommentsFrom the Archives, History, Humour, Travel

john

noun Slang. (North American)

cartoon toilet

There are some other slang meanings, but today, I’m talking about toilets, specifically public ones in various countries.  Speaking of various countries, each one has its unique vernacular:

toilet

noun:

  lavatory, bathroom, loo, gents or ladies, (British informal) bog (slang),
can,  john (slang, mainly US & Canadian),

head (nautical, slang), throne (informal) closet, privy, cloakroom  (British), 
urinal, latrine, washroom, powder room, ablutions (military, informal),  
crapper **(slang), dunny, bogger, brasco (Australian / New Zealand, slang),
water closet, khazi (slang), pissoir (French), outhouse, public convenience,
W.C., 
ladies’ room, little boy’s room, little girl’s room (informal), 

** Named after Thomas Crapper, a plumber, who contrary to popular belief
did NOT invent the flush toilet, but he did improve the design. Click HERE for details

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I remember in 1960s Germany, most public bathrooms were pay toilets.  Each door had a slot to put in your 10 Pfennig. If you didn’t have the coin, then what?!

There may or may not have been an attendant on duty, and if not, you had to beg from strangers.  Not sure whether or not this practice is still in effect because we didn’t encounter any pay toilets when we were there in 2013.  Hopefully not!

gotta pee
Image Credit

When we were touring Ephesus in Turkey (same trip),  there was also a charge to use the bathrooms.  The big difference was you paid a live person, and they could make change.

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Women:  Have you ever tried to pee, (never mind anything else!) using only a hole in the floor?  One thing for sure; you will need good aim! Easy enough for men, of course.

I first encountered one of these old-fashioned toilets at the Milan, Italy train station in 1968.  Thankfully, Italy has become more modern in the meantime, and those toilets are not as prevalent anymore.

squatter toilet
Photo Credit

Had to use another one of these during our tour of the Hanging Monasteries in Meteora, Greece.  Thankfully, most of the Greek toilets were of the modern style, but there was a severe shortage of toilet paper at many of the public attractions.  Best to take your own.

One other quirk;  it seems the plumbing system isn’t up to the task because we often encountered signs warning not to flush your toilet paper. Bins were provided for that purpose, but they didn’t always have lids.  Rather off-putting!

Greek toilet warning sign. A John by any other name
Photo Credit

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Toilets go way back to ancient times:

Ephesus - ancient toilets. A John by any other name
Toilets in Ancient Ephesus ©

Toilet History with Humour   😀

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Do you have any unique toilet experiences you’d like to share?  

Looking forward to your comments!

Debbie's signature

Reading material:

Summer Re-run Series at The Doglady's Den: A Johm by any other name
Originally published April 11, 2014, for the #AtoZChallenge, theme Travel & Culture

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26 thoughts on “A JOHN BY ANY OTHER NAME

  1. I am way behind in reading blogs. In Germany in 2013 we ran into lots of places with pay toilets. We joked that the attendants must have been former employees of the Stasi. In Liechtenstein, I saw a picture of a toilet with a man standing on it and one of those red circles with a slash over it. I asked and they said lots of orientals think you are supposed to stand on the toilet to go. Geez.

    1. Hahaha! Yes, we are lucky to be living in a modern world, that’s for sure. Some countries still have some catching up to do, though. You need a well-developed sense of adventure to travel. 🙂

  2. Hi Debbie,
    it was interesting and funny to at same time but good one appreciated ! dapper pisser, interesting collection of words. yes i recalled my childhood what we do in our villages in those days.

  3. You’ve done it again! I’m starting to get freaked out that you can read the blog posts I haven’t written – you know, all the best ones that are still in our heads!? I have been planning on writing something based on a picture I took in 2014 – the year I started blogging! So here we are, 5 years later, and you have written a BRILLIANT piece on loos (that’s my usual word apart from ‘lavvy’ if the queen is in earshot which is like, NEVER). And that film! It’s hilarious – the actor is so funny with his expressions and not one word spoken. Thanks so much Debbie, I do have some toilet stories to tell but I think I will get on and do the post I was going to do 5 years ago (?) and link to this post if you don’t mind? Thanks for this entertaining interlude in my day!

    1. That is uncanny, Gilly! 😀 And I wrote the original post in 2014. Definitely freaky! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Absolutely, feel free to link anything you like. Can’t wait to read your toilet stories. Cheers!

  4. I recall, as a youth growing up in rural West Tennessee, when we got plumbing, then hot and cold running water, up to and including, sinks and showers and a flushing toilet. One was all we installed. So, from time to time, when there were many at the house, I would take advantage of our outdoor privy. On one occasion, I failed to properly inspect the facility, and as a result, a wasp stung me on my posterior.

    You are laughing, aren’t you?

    1. Ouch! That must have stung! 😮 I tried very hard NOT to laugh, but a little chuckle slipped out. 😀 Thanks for sharing your toilet story, Myke.

  5. I remember a while back wanting to find the truth of the Crapper story and getting basically nowhere. It sure would be nice to know what he actually did (well, I mean, other than…)

    1. Here’s the answer: Crapper did not invent the toilet, but he did develop the ballcock, an improved tank-filling mechanism still used in toilets today. Crapper’s name would become synonymous with the devices he sold (although the English word “crap” predates him by centuries), thanks in part to American servicemen stationed overseas during World War I.
      https://www.history.com/news/who-invented-the-flush-toilet

  6. These were most humorous, but ever so true. Funny how things have changed in some places and some things that haven’t changed.

    Have a fabulous day and thanks for the laughs. ♥

  7. Evidently the plumbing in Mexico is so bad that they throw their toilet paper in a wastebasket (usually conveniently placed next to the toilet. If you go to Mexican restaurants (around here, anyway) you see a setup like that. A woman I knew professionally said that one day she had to negotiate a truce between American and Mexican workers at a plant, because the Americans were grossed out by the Mexicans using the the only wastebasket in the restroom to discard their TP, and the Mexicans were convinced that the Americans weren’t using it at all and getting grossed out by that.

    In a lot of the Far East, squat toilets are most common, although this is rapidly changing. Another woman I worked with told me that often she’d see women standing on the toilet seat and squatting down to go, because they knew no other way. When I went to Singapore a few years ago, the men’s room at the airport had a clearly-marked stall for the more traditional (so to speak) users.

    Odd sort of subject to get on, isn’t it?

    1. Mexico and Greece have this in common, apparently! I didn’t mind the wastebaskets, as long as they had lids, but the open ones are gross! 😛 Yes, I’m glad to see the rest of the world slowly catching up to the 21st century with toilet design.

      I wrote this originally for the 2014 A to Z Challenge and thought it might be amusing. 🙂 Thanks for coming by and sharing your toilet anecdotes, JOHN! I guess the title drew you in? 😉 Have a good weekend.

  8. Some fascinating toilet stories here, Debbie D. My hubby and I were at a Porsche dealership in Georgia. The attitude there was hoity-toity, indeed. Well, the ladies room was quite a treat! You could adjust the temperature of the toilet seat using dials strategically placed right next to the toilet. You could also adjust the temperature of your room. (each stall was an enlcosed unit.). Of course, there was a bidet, which you could choose what scent you wanted to enjoy during your ladies room stay. I thought perhaps, I could get my hair and nails done while I was there! lol

    It was quite the experience and a pleasant one at that!

    1. That is the most luxurious toilet experience I’ve ever heard of, Eugenia. It must have been such a treat! And to think, most of us are deprived of such niceties. Pity! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your story.

  9. Debbie,

    Paid toilets. In the small city of Welch WV when I was a kid, yes, it was in the late 60s to early 70s I recall going to the department store. I’m thinking it was a 5 and Dime where you had to drop a dime in the slot to use the bathroom. I thought that was the craziest thing and I do remember having to bang on the door on occasion. The store also had an escalator which is another first experience for me. Luckily, I did not have any unfortunate accidents but I do remember the feeling of dread every time we went shopping there. What if I had to go to the bathroom and didn’t have the money? You mentioned having to use the bathroom over a tiny hole in the floor. That’s nothing, easy peasy stuff! I remember when we used to stay at my great -grandparents’ place they did not have an indoor bathroom and in the middle of the night going to the outhouse might turn into a lively experience meeting wild animals and such not to mention it was scary. We always had an empty pop bottle, though. It worked just fine and it always amazed me that I didn’t leave a wet mess behind. I had a steadier aim when I was little, so I guess that’s why I didn’t have any trouble but I have no clue why they didn’t have a wide mouth container to use as a bedchamber but the bottle worked. Growing up in rural WV, often times when we went somewhere there weren’t many businesses which meant no public bathrooms. We did like all the folks did at the time, pulled off the road, opened the car doors on one side and the kid wee-weed between them making for an instant bathroom stall. This worked well for number one business just fine. I don’t know what we did if more urgent potting was needed. lol Speaking of public bathrooms, I recall seeing a travel documentary a few years ago and I think it was somewhere in France. They mentioned the public bathrooms which basically looked like a big room with a tile floor for women to squat and tinkle. No privacy whatsoever but it’s all in what you’re accustomed to I suppose. Your posts are always interesting and often spark a distant memory I had forgotten. Can you believe tomorrow is the first day of summer? What are your plans for the longest day of the year?

    1. Hey, I forgot to check out the videos. We used to tease if we ran out of TP, then we can always use the Sears Roebuck catalog like dear ole grandma & grandpa. I’d say the daily newspaper served as a good recycling matter for that job, too. lol

      1. The newspaper might be a little softer! 😀 The videos are really funny. Hope you get the chance to watch them. Have a good weekend!

    2. My goodness, Cathy! I can’t imagine using something as small as a pop bottle to pee in. That takes real skill. 🙂 Thankfully, most of Europe has modern toilets now. That one in France sounds awful! And, what happens if they need to do more than just pee? 😮 Thanks for sharing your experiences!

    3. P.S. The first day of summer is a little chilly here. 😛 Hopefully, it will clear up later so we can hang out on the back deck. Enjoy your day!