Where is the Bathroom? in all languages | TCKID 2.0

Where is the Bathroom? in all languages

Where is the bathroom? Sure, knowing how to say “hello” and “I love you” in a different language is great.. but I can’t think of many questions more important than “where’s the bathroom”. So, how do you say it in your language?

In French: “Où sont les toilettes?”

Here are some interesting toilets pictures from around the world.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Posted by Brice at 6:30 pm on November 25th, 2007. Comments
Categories: Feature, Fun and Games, General Forum.

  • caseyjoy123
    How do you say it in Fijian??????????????????????? PLEASE HELP :(
  • Michele
    Excuse me but what is a
    TCK?
    Nice site. Good job.
  • Hazel
    Qing wen, ce suo zai nar? ??,????? I'm missing a character at the end to change to tone here... oh well. But there you go, Mandarin! (Polite - Excuseme/please - ask , toilet located where?)
  • Turkish : Toalet/WC nerde? saw the words in the wrong order before, although most people would understand you anyway :-)

    Swedish: Var finns toaletten?
  • In Tagalog: Saan po ang baño? or Saan po ang CR?

    CR is short for comfort room :)
  • Sadie
    Swahili: choo iko wapi?

    Oh my god though... I have to tell you guys a story from when I was 10. We'd just moved to Paris, and my brother and I were attending a French school. Unfortunately the school was also a full fledged disaster.
    Anyway, so we were sitting in French (native language) class, attempting to conjugate the subjunctive tense of the verb "to milk" (as in a cow) when I realised I really needed to go to the bathroom but didn't know how to ask. So... I raised my hand and asked "May I go to the bathroom?" The teacher however cut me off and said "say it in French please". Well, I didn't yet know how. So my brother, sitting behind me, leans forward and tries to tell me, but she cuts him off on the second word - "NO TALKING!" meanwhile my bladder is about to burst.
    He finally passed me a note with the writing on it, and I was able to go, but not without significant trauma...


    It's funny about the "I'm in the toilet" story, Joanna Maria. I wonder how many people would see that as being inside the bowl - I think in American English, toilet generally refers to the actual appliance (if you can call it that), whereas in British English it refers more to the room. Or maybe i'm wrong
  • Joanna Maria
    Polish:
    Gdzie jest toaleta? (public toilets/restrooms)
    Gdzie jest ubikacja? (small, usually private restroom)
    Gdzie jest lazienka? (bathroom)

    Warsaw has a famous park called Lazienki (the 'Royal Baths'; it does not mean 'The Restroom Park,' but as a small child I was inclined to think so.) :-D

    It would be interesting to do a survey on the usage of the words: 'toilets,' 'restroom' and 'bathroom,' as far as what people usually take them to mean in different English-speaking countries.

    Once, when I wanted to enter a dorm-mate's room in Sweden, he yelled: "I'm in the toilet!" I would have said, "I'm in the bathroom," in a similar situation, although my bathroom did not actually have a bath and his did not either. Each had a shower...

    I later told him it was as if he had said he was swimming in the toilet bowl... ;-)
  • morocan arabic: fin el bit al ma?

    dutch: waar is de batkamer?
  • cadpig
    Visayan/Bisaya: Asa ang banyo?
  • EleanorS
    In English there are lodes of ways of saying it without actually getting to the point.

    e.g.

    I need to spend a penny
    Call of nature
    I need to powder my nose
    Where is the bathroom/washroom/loo/bog/toilet/wc/facilities

    and much more...
  • Annette
    Danish = Hvor er toilettet? or Hvor er WCet hen? Danish toilets are always marked either WC or Toilet. Danish doesn't have a "w" so it's pronounced like a "V".
  • Selam
    Tigrinya - Sha'aq abey alo?

    [unsure of spelling :) ]
  • Selam
    Tigrinya - Sha'uq abey alo?

    [unsure of spelling :) ]
  • curtis
    Portuguese:
    Aonde esta o banheiro?
  • EleanorS
    Italian - Dov'e il bagno
  • anayawa
    Czech: Kde je záchod?
  • connie1
    Cantonese Chinese:

    casual: ?????? chi soh (toilet) hei been?

    polite: ??,??????ching men, sei sou gan (washroom) hei been?
  • connie1
    Cantonese:

    casual: ?????? chi soh (toilet) hei been?

    polite: ??,??????ching men, sei sou gan (washroom) hei been?
  • sharonst
    i think i've died laughing at the definite gem uncle dan uncovered. i have definitely missed mr. brown. at the same time, it'd be horrifying to think that all singaporeans spoke that way.
  • miyon
    What I would say in Japanese:

    ???????????
    (Otearaiwa dokodesuka?)
    (Where can I wash my hands?)
  • Brice
    Love it! I think I'll adopt this rating system. Thanks. :D
  • camilla
    Swahili: Choo iko wapi?
    :)
  • bekka
    Albanian: Ku është banjo?
  • sondra
    A friend asked a man in Pakistan where the toilet was. The man flung his arms out and announced, "All of Asia is a toilet!"
  • Cynthia
    HAHAHA! I love the rating system :D
  • Rose
    I discovered my Arabic and Spanish were blending when I wound myself thinking "Areed ir al bano minfadlak", areed being I want and minfadlak being please in Arabic, and ir al bano is go to the bathroom in Spanish. I don't know of anyplace that uses that mixture.

    A sidenote, my family developed a 5 golden toilet seat rating for toilets: 1 point each if
    -it had a seat
    -it flushed
    -it had toilet paper
    -the biofilm on all surfaces was less than 1mm thick
    -running water? (I'm not sure on this one)

    obviously, a lot of zero ratings being talked about, but it's fun to tell my American friends about this and watch their faces.
  • AlastairS
    just goes to show how much i know about my "home" country.. hahahaha
  • Aisyah
    Al, WC is not the term used in Malaysia.
    In Malay you'd say: Tandas/bilik air kat mana?
  • julia
    Norwegian: Hvor er toalettet? (that would be the proper way)
    - Hvor er doen? (casual way)
    - hvor er dassen? (teenage way..)
    someone might have posted these before but i didnt take the time to read all the previous cmnts. :)
    julia
  • Tess
    Swedish: Var är toaletten?
  • AlastairS
    in Malay or Indonesian:
    Dimana WC?

    WC being abbreviation for Water Closet.
  • Brice
    Anthony, haha yeah that's the problem with multilingual languages and keyboards - I can never find the right keys!
  • AnthonyM
    Greek = ??? e??a? ? t??a??ta? (Pou einai i toualeta) There is a different question mark in Greek too, but i can't seem to find it on my keyboard!
  • Brice
    lol I learned how to say it in Welsh:

    Welsh = Pardwn ble mae`r ty bach? (Par-dOOn ble MY-r Tea bach?)
  • SeungMi
    In Korean : ???? ?????
    Huajiangsiri eodiyijjo?
    where's the bathroom?

    hey guys, I'm newbie here. :)
  • Livia
    u mean like disposable plastic sheets? isn't that pretty normal in decent toilets?

    I don't know, I've only seen them once in china, and nevr in england of anywhere else. Maybe we're just not very developed in the world of hygene :(.
  • Angelic
    and why am i a ducky now....again?? where's my face Brice?? was it THAT freaky looking? lol
  • Angelic
    u mean like disposable plastic sheets? isn't that pretty normal in decent toilets?
  • Livia
    I forgot to say, once in a posh restaurant, they had toilets that had a plastic sheet over the seat... it like SELF CLEANED... I still can't get over the shock...
  • Livia
    last time my sister fell down one of the squatters at a petrol station in chengdu - you know the ones that look like irrigation systems made out of concrete?

    And who needs a door on the cubicle?! the chinese (women, I don't know about men, but i'm guessing the same) certainly don't... ew.. sanitary towels EVERYWHERE
  • Uncle Dan
    I've seen the second to last one, actually...

    Cafe Batavia in Jakarta, maybe?

    Anyway, I was looking for examples of Singlish (Singaporean English) to have people listen to here, and stumbled across this gem:

    http://www.mrbrownshow.com/2007/11/15/the-mrbrown-show-toilet-language/
  • kristine
    :O person above me has my tck flag as an avatar :D lol it caught my eye xD

    anyways.. LOL tryna focus... did i ask yet?

    why is there 2 toilet bowls up facing each other? i doubt anybody's gonna be using em. LOL.
  • Turkish: Nerede vc? (They don't have a "w", so "v" substitutes, and "c" is pronounced as "j"... thus, vc is wc.

    Sranan Tongo: Pe a wc de?
  • Robin
    Let's see:

    Robin-Speak (French): "Où sont les chiottes, SVP?"

    Robin-Speak (English): "May I be excused please? I can't seem to find my way..."
  • kita
    so here's what i've got.. i think it's right:

    fijian: Au sa via mi (i need to pee)
    so ever since we moved here i figured i should start learning fijian... and the funny thing is that this is one of the few lines i've actually managed to memorize.... just for kicks of the others is "Iko sa via mi" which is "you need to pee" lol.

    hindi: Mere ko bathroom jaana hai (in india most people don't use the hindi word for toilet which would be some more urdu-like, instead we tend to use words like bathroom, or just say what we need to do. kinda like in fijian)

    papua new guinean pidgin: mi laik go lo pis pis (again it's literally : i need to pee)


    this thread is hilarious!
  • Cynthia
    Sky, just took a look at that picture. I am already having a hard time maintaining privacy with bathroom stalls that have no doors or bathroom stalls that have doors but the stalls only come up to your stomach or chest. It makes me nervous to see people when I'm in the bathroom...you know. LOL
  • the second Creole phrase should read ~~kot twalet la ye?~~
  • so it left the Creole out. I surrounded it in <>.... the Creole is ~~m' gen yon pipi k'ap tiye m'~~
  • In Creole, if you're in a large town you've never been in: (lit: I've got a piss that's killing me) hosts will understand and lead you to bathroom/outhouse. or you can say (if you're ultrapolite and your hosts understand white culture) . But if you're not in a large town you've never been in, you take it to the bush, and like someone said, the pigs/dogs get some extra nutrition. Just make sure you can see remains of someone else's dump near you--otherwise you might offend someone.

    Same in Venezuela where we lived: you don't ask, you just go next to a plant with big leaves. If there are no leaves, or if the leaves have invisible "itchy bugs" (sting like fiberglass) on them, you use a stick, but make sure there are no invisible bugs on that either. Or tarantulas or walking sticks--ha! :) Just don't go too far into the jungle, and never go without your bow & arrow, blowgun, and machete. Anacondas like to look like trees and jaguars like to sound like birds.
  • kristine
    flip: nasaan yung banyo?

    anyways. holy crap where do you guys find those pics?! LOL
  • sky
    How about this one. This is a Finnish outhouse. This one must be from some camping place.
    ..
    http://www.letim.fi/lan/3puusee.jpg
  • sky
    The toilet picture with the islands is like the one I saw in Italy once. I thought it was so amusing. Because the toilet I grew up seeing in public places looks like this. http://www.germes-online.com/direct/dbimage/50196916/Squat_Toilet.jpg
    In Lao language: Hong nam yuu sai?
    Another version in Thai: Hong suam yuu thi nai?

    The Lao traditional village style is a walk to the forest and the pigs follow to have a snack after you leave.
    And you use a stick or leaf to wipe.
    People in Thailand and Laos who have not learned correctly yet how to use a bathroom will either sit on top of a sitting toilet (the kind we Europeans and Americans us) or they will do it on the floor and wash it away with water if they are civilized enough.
    If you have a party for lower class locals be sure to wash the bathroom before you use it again.
  • warona
    oh and afrikaans....waar is die toilet?

    "w" is pronounced "v"

    and portuguese: faz favor, onde é o lavabo?
  • warona
    setswana - kopa toilet or toilet e kae?
    zulu/xhosa/siswati - celi itoilet or ikuphi itoilet?

    note the "c" is a click. sort of like the click in english when chastising, usually spelled "tsk tsk". am i making sense? and all "h"s are slilent and "k" in siswati/zulu etc is pronounced more like a "g" so "ikuphi" is pronounced "igupi", the ph is not an "f" sound.

    i know the languages have words for toilet, but they aren't used very much. most people use the english word.
  • James
    Seeing this topic is kinda weird actually because last night I was at a Japanese Society meeting at my uni, and when I said I'd grown up in Hong Kong to someone he said 'Oh really! I know one phrase...

    chi soh hai bin doh ah?'
    (Where's the toilet: ah the international comedy of Mike Myers... :)
  • Brice
    I think the Chinese government doesn't like my fancy toilet :(

    Here's the direct link to it
    http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/36900/2001483895416147530_rs.jpg

    Maybe we should make a list of useful proxies and links for TCKs .. hmmmmm....
  • Cynthia
    I don't like this censorship thing LOL Can't see your "illustrative" thoughts Brice, sorry :p
  • Angelic
    oh..i can see it now..couldn't see the pics for a while..lol
  • Angelic
    high tech geek toilet??
  • Brice
    lol, here's a toilet for me... high-tech Geek toilet!

    <img src="http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/36900/2001483895416147530_rs.jpg">

    In Japanese: toire wa doko desu ka?
  • Angelic
    It is cynthia!! I think we should take Brice to see what a real squatter looks like..like the common ones in everyday life!! lol
  • Cynthia
    Ok I try the proxy thing and I can see the picture now. Brice, that is one VERY clean bathroom! As long as it doesn't smell I consider that quite comfortable LOL
  • Cynthia
    Is that why I can't see pictures too? The Internet censorship in China? LOL

    I've been to Dalian, not Qingdao but they're right across from each other :D
  • Heather
    Yay, I can now see the pictures. They had been blocked (as is often the case in China) but with my special anti-censorship program I can see them.

    Brice - that squatter is possibly the cleanest one I have ever seen. You could eat in there. Now, the ones I see every day... You couldn't eat for a week after being in there!
  • Heather
    I can't seem to see the photos...maybe that is a good thing!

    Cynthia - yes, Linyi is in the northeast. Do you know where Qingdao is? It is about 3 hours south of Qingdao. I love Shanghai, but I don't get there too often. I'm kind of stuck here in the "boonies" as we used to say back in Texas.
  • Angelic
    hahahaha...believe me alot worse!!!!!!! that is ultra clean compared to it!!! i don't think u would even be able to see the toilet under all the sh#%^%
  • Brice
    Angelic, does it look a bit like this?

    <img src="http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/35297/2004298004818222551_rs.jpg">
  • Angelic
    In thai it's "hong nam yoo tee nai?"
    In arabic it's "wein ha mam?"

    haha..love the toilets though!!! u should see bathrooms at the border between jordan and Syria!!!! actually...no you shouldn't!!! i wouldn't wish it on anyone!! they're completely "unenterable"..they're GROSS!!! the worst toilets i've ever been in! lol and i've been to ALOT of gross places in my travels!!!
  • Cynthia
    You know MAO is a bar here in Shanghai: Music, Art, Oasis or something like that LOL

    Heather: hahaha! That would totally fit the description :D So you're up in the north if I do my geography correctly? LOL I'm in Shanghai :)
  • Brice
    Cynthia: LOL, that's a funny toilet.


    <img src="http://www.forumspile.com/LOL-ROFL_Mao.gif">
  • Heather
    Maybe they should serve that goat with dung dish that they eat in Laos! ;)

    Cynthia - I've been having the dirty bathroom dreams for years before I came to China. Not really sure where they came from!!

    I am in China now, in Linyi, which is in the southeast of Shandong Province. I've been here a year, before that I lived a year in Shijiazhuang, which is three hours south of Beijing.
  • Cynthia
    Sorry I am posting this several times LOL

    Here is a sneak peek of the menu:
    Moderntoilet Menu (I hope the link works)

    They made ice cream to look like poop and put it on the toilet-shaped dishware LOL
  • Cynthia
    Here is a link to that website:
    http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/about.asp
  • Cynthia
    Yes WC is very common XD Isn't it like a European thing? It's not very common in the States but it is in Asia. You see that a lot in Thailand too.

    Haha! I had the dream about the Chinese toilets too!! XD I think being in China has that affect. I think it's our subconscious fear playing tricks on us LOL But I only dreamt that when I first moved to China, after that I haven't had any, I guess coz I got used to it LOL

    Btw, are you still in China now? Whereabouts if you don't mind me asking? :)
  • Heather
    Thanks! I'm learning quite a lot here!

    I saw pics of the bian suo restaurant. I really don't think I could eat there!! One of the most challenging aspects of life in China is the toilet issue. I don't mind squatters, it is just the smell and filth level that gets me. For the last ten years or so, I've had recurring dreams of being trapped in a really dirty, wet, disgusting bathroom. (Gotta be some strange subconscious reason for that...anyone have any ideas?) So moving to China wasn't such a great idea for getting over that one.

    Oh and we forgot another way to say bathroom in China: wc! (I can't believe how often this one is understood, even by people who don't speak English!)
  • Cynthia
    Heather, yea I've heard that version too but I'm Taiwanese so we say it differently :D

    I think it's a matter of dialect and which Chinese region you're from. "na er" is a very Beijing thing, they like to end everything in "er" and since Mandarin is the Beijing dialect, everyone will try to end everything in "er" in China. However, in Taiwan, it's different because Taiwanese (the dialect) doesn't have the "er" and even though when we speak Mandarin sometimes we have the "er" we don't roll our tongues too much like the Beijing people (Pekingese?) do.

    As for the word "bathroom" I think it is a matter of dialect and also what people think is PC. There are all kinds of versions. Here is another one: guan xi shi (???). So you have xishoujian ???, cesuo ??, weishengjian ??? (we don't use this in Taiwan, at least I don't remember seeing it) and ??? (this is common in Taiwanese public bathrooms). Sometimes even bian suo ??. Or if you want "outhouse" you can say maofang ?? LOL! Yes many ways of saying "bathroom" in Chinese XD

    Speaking of bathrooms, off-topic, but there is a Taiwanese restaurant called "bian suo ??" and you literally sit on covered toilet seats to eat and guess what the dishwares are the shapes off? That's right, toilets. Squatting toilets, sitting toilets, even a chamber pot!
  • Heather
    :) Very interesting!!

    I have a different way of asking for the bathroom in Mandarin:

    Weishengjian zai na er (??????) (na er pronounced like nar)

    Cynthia, do you know what difference there is between the versions? I know that around Beijing na er is more common than na li, but I do not know about the words for bathroom. I learned this from my coworker. She is from Sichuan province, so maybe it is a dialect thing.
  • USAFinn
    In Finnish: Missä on kylpyhuone(vessa)?

    In German: Wo ist die Toilette(Badezimmer?)?
  • Julie
    Arabic: Wain al hamam
  • Cynthia
    In Thai: Hong nam yu nai kha/khrab?

    In Mandarin: Qing wen xishoujian/cesuo zai nai li?
  • Natalia
    In Korean: Hwajangsil odie issuimnika?
  • Natalia
    In Russian: Gde tualet? =)
  • Steve
    In spanish it's Dònde està el baño?
blog comments powered by Disqus