No one says "restroom" any more? (speech, meaning, quote)
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Back about 50 years ago (!) the women's rest rooms changed.
It used to be that almost anywhere that was more than a gas station or hamburger stand had a little anteroom in the Ladies' room with a cot, a pillow, a blanket, and a light switch. This was true of restaurants like Olive Garden-class or better, as well as movie theatres, schools, office buildings, libraries, train stations, etc. About three or four years ago, I noticed one in the mezzanine level at the Seattle-International Airport. I hadn't seen one in maybe twenty years before that. It may still be there for all I know.
Back in the early 70s, I was studying computer programming. There was a lot of prejudince against women taking the quantitative sciences in those days, but I did have one edge. We ambitious students had to stay up all night waiting for our jobs to run. As the only woman in the engineering building, I could sleep in the women's rest room while waiting for my program to run (this was in the days when computers could only do one job at a time, and it would take hours to get the results back). All the guys in the class waiting for their results had to sit at a table resting their heads on their crossed arms under bright flourescent lights.
They eventually replaced the cot with a baby changing station!
The thread title isn't accurate in my neck of the woods (Chicago/Midwest). The overwhelming majority of public places, including my job, have signs saying "restroom". "Bathroom" is for homes, and "washroom" is for schools. In reference to public restrooms, "bathroom" is understood and accepted, but is considered mildly crass.
My K-thru-8 school, day camps, and a sleepaway camp I went to all used the term "washroom". My high school used the term "restroom" on its signage, although students resorted to the more crass "bathroom".
The thread title isn't accurate in my neck of the woods (Chicago/Midwest). The overwhelming majority of public places, including my job, have signs saying "restroom". "Bathroom" is for homes, and "washroom" is for schools. In reference to public restrooms, "bathroom" is understood and accepted, but is considered mildly crass.
My K-thru-8 school, day camps, and a sleepaway camp I went to all used the term "washroom". My high school used the term "restroom" on its signage, although students resorted to the more crass "bathroom".
That's interesting. I did a little digging and found that there is a Employee Washroom Act in Illinois.
The washroom they referred to are actually facilities where an employe can shower/wash themselves but also has toilets. Is the term common in Illinois?
'...water satisfactory for shower and bathing purposes and with sufficient and suitable places and means for using the same; a sufficient number of showers for the use of employees who regularly use the washroom; and adequate toilet facilities, properly enclosed; "
That's interesting. I did a little digging and found that there is a Employee Washroom Act in Illinois.
The washroom they referred to are actually facilities where an employe can shower/wash themselves but also has toilets. Is the term common in Illinois?
'...water satisfactory for shower and bathing purposes and with sufficient and suitable places and means for using the same; a sufficient number of showers for the use of employees who regularly use the washroom; and adequate toilet facilities, properly enclosed; "
Maybe it's different for students vs. for employees. Schools that teach swimming in gym, which wasn't true for my K-thru-8 school, technically have showers for students, even if their usage is restricted. Heck, it didn't even have locker rooms; we'd just wear sporty clothes to school on gym days. Although maybe that school had showers for employees, which fits your definition of "washroom".
On the other hand, given that many low-income students have a hard time getting a bath/shower at home, a shower in school, at least twice a week, is very reasonable. Especially for post-puberty kids, who start to smell bad when they sweaty or dirty. In fact, in parts of Alaska, where many families live in dry cabins (no running water), schools often provide showers for students.
Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 10-15-2021 at 06:59 PM..
I like "restroom" and felt embarrassed in the UK when asking for the toilet.
Yeah, me too. I felt like it was too specific and it was really, really hard for me to ask someone to tell me where it was. Nobody needs to know what I'm doing in there and when you ask where the toilet is, they know!
Back in the early 70s, I was studying computer programming. There was a lot of prejudince against women taking the quantitative sciences in those days, but I did have one edge.
Kind of off topic, but I was a woman studying computer programming in the mid-'70s, too. It was weird to be the lone woman in that field back then.
Spent some time at the local women's club last weekend. There's a small anteroom for the women's facility, with a couple of chairs and a plant or two. A quick search didn't tell me when the building was constructed, but a previous women's club (at a different address) was torn down in 1967.
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