Hello. I’m Renée Valentina. Welcome to Musing Interruptus. Musing Interruptus is a podcast for sharing thoughts and stories and enjoying idiomatic phrases and words. You can read along; the transcription is in the description of this episode. The idiomatic expressions are in italics. Try to get the meaning from the context and then look them up to see if you were right. If you like it, share it, but more importantly, continue the conversation. The background music is called Castor Wheel Pivot by Blue Dot.
Today, The Not So Private Place.
Lavatory or lav, for short stays, the powder room, you can guess what kind of powder we are talking about according to the decade, restroom or comfort station, toilet, washroom, water closet or WC, the crapper (although it is people doing the evacuating and no the place), crap room and urine room might be more appropriate, the John, which puts me off Johns in general, the latrine, for a more outdoorsy experience. In British English, the loo and the bog, the dunny in Australian English, that seems about right to me, the cludgie in northern England and Scotland. The porcelain throne, the can, the privy if you are feeling like a fancy evacuation is coming up, rather, exiting, the little boy's room or little girls' room (although that makes me uncomfortable), potty has the same effect on me, the head in military or naval contexts, the facilities when you are hoping for something exquisitely sterile, the gents/ the ladies. Is it a portable toilet? Are you in the US? You might call it the honey wagon. Which immediately puts me off honey, why oh why? The Commode. The pot, as in shit or get off the pot. The outhouse is self-explanatory, the ladies' room, the women’s room, the men’s room.
Whichever word or phrase you use to refer to -that place- we all do most of the same things there:
You might catch up on your shampoo bottles, magazines, books, and Kindles, posts on FB, Instagram, and Threads, reading is a popular option while sitting on the throne. Perhaps you enjoy scrolling on TikTok. Many are writers and enjoy catching up on their correspondence and text messages, I wonder if anybody still uses ICQs. I wouldn’t mind the uh oh sound there. It seems to be a very productive place. Be careful, apparently, staying on the pot too long can cause sciatica, it can weaken the pelvic floor, and cause pelvic organ prolapse and even anal fissures. We should all be taking a squat according to 2003’s Digestive Diseases and Sciences journal. So in the words of our dearly departed Ernesto, be ready to use the restroom and evacuate efficiently.
I have had some great ideas in the shower. Something about massaging my head with shampoo moves my thoughts. Alright, not all the ideas I get there are great. Still, I bet most people think in that room.
Regarding public availability and use of the facilities. There has been a recent push to stop making distinctions based on gender and which John you get to use. These are bathroom politics. That is a very public thing to do in such a private place.
Some people smoke in the bathroom, find refuge from the harshness of the world, and cry on the porcelain throne or in the shower while they are taking care of hygiene, like grown-ups. It is efficient to do at least two things at the same time. Continue reading
