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Toilet

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For other uses, see Toilet (disambiguation).
"The Men's Room" redirects here, for the radio program see The Men's Room (radio program).
Flush toilet.
Early 20th Century outhouse, preserved at a ghost town in the Arizona Desert.

A toilet, lavatory, water closet (WC), or loo is a plumbing fixture and disposal system primarily intended for the disposal of the bodily wastes: urine and fecal matter. The word "toilet" can be used to refer to the fixture itself or to the room containing the fixture, especially in British English.

The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had flush toilets attached to a sophisticated sewage system, and a form of flush toilet was used in the Indus Valley Civilization. Although a precursor to the modern flush toilet system was designed in 1596 by Sir John Harington, the toilet did not enter into widespread use until the late 19th Century, when it was adopted by the English upper class as a means to stratify themselves from the lower classes.


DAIM MAN I GOTTA BLOW S*** ALL OVER THE CRAPPER!!!!!

Grey water

See also: Greywater

In some areas with water shortage issues, in order to conserve levels of potable water, some installations use grey water for toilets. Grey water is waste water produced from processes such as washing dishes, laundry and bathing.

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History

Further information: History of the toilet
Roman public toilets, Ostia Antica

Toilets appeared as early as 2500 BC. The people of the Harappan civilization in Pakistan and north-western India had water-flushing toilets in each house that were linked with drains covered with burnt clay bricks. Around the 15th century BC, toilets started to appear in Minoan Crete; Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs, Persia, and ancient China. In Roman civilization, toilets were sometimes part of public bath houses.

Roman toilets, like the ones pictured here, are commonly thought to be used in the sitting position. But sitting toilets only came into general use in the mid-19th century. A case has been made for the squatting hypothesis.

Etymology

A typical household toilet.

The word "toilet" came to be used in English along with other French fashions (first noted 1681). It originally referred to the whole complex of operations of hairdressing and body care that centered at a dressing table covered to the floor with cloth (toile) and lace, on which stood a mirror, which might also be draped in lace: the ensemble was a toilette. The English poet Alexander Pope in The Rape of the Lock (1717) described the intricacies of a lady's preparation:

And now, unveil'd, the toilet stands display'd Each silver vase in mystic order laid.

Through the 18th century, everywhere in the English-speaking world, a toilet remained a lady's draped dressing-table. The word was adapted as a genteel euphemism for the room and the object as we know them now, perhaps following the French usage cabinet de toilette, much as powder-room may be coyly used today, and this has been linked to the introduction of public toilets, for example on railway trains, which required a plaque on the door. The original usage has become indelicate and obsolete, and has been replaced by dressing-table.

Vestiges of the original meaning continue to be reflected in terms such as toiletries, eau de toilette and toilet bag (to carry flannels, soaps, etc). This seemingly contradictory terminology has served as the basis for various parodies e.g. Cosmopolitan magazine ("If it doesn't say 'eau de toilette' on the label, it most likely doesn't come from the famed region of Eau de Toilette in France and might not even come from toilets at all.")

The word toilet itself may be considered an impolite word in the United States, whilst elsewhere the word is used without any embarrassment. The choice of the word used instead of toilet is highly variable, not just by regional dialect but also, at least in Britain, by class connotations. Nancy Mitford wrote an essay out of the choice of wording; see U and non-U English. Some manufacturers show this uneasiness with the word and its class attributes: American Standard, the largest manufacturer, sells them as "toilets", yet the higher priced products of the Kohler Company, often installed in more expensive housing, are sold as commodes or closets, words which also carry other meanings. Confusingly, products imported from Japan such as TOTO are referred to as "toilets", even though they carry the cachet of higher cost and quality. When referring to the room or the actual piece of equipment, the word toilet is often substituted with other euphemisms and dysphemisms (See toilet humor). As old euphemisms have become accepted, they have been progressively replaced by newer ones, an example of the euphemism treadmill at work. The choice of word used to describe the room or the piece of plumbing relies as much on regional variation (dialect) as on social situation and level of formality (Register (linguistics)).

Lavatory

The term lavatory, abbreviated in slang to lav, derives from the Latin lavātōrium, which in turn comes from Latin lavāre, to wash. It used to refer to a vessel for washing, such as a sink/wash basin, and thus came to mean a room with washing vessels. Since these rooms often also contain toilets, the meaning evolved into its current one, namely the polite and formal euphemism for a toilet and the room containing it. Lavatory is the common signage for toilets on commercial airlines around the world, see Aircraft lavatory.

Loo

The sign for toilets ("loos...") at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom

The origin of the (chiefly British) term loo is unknown. According to the OED, the etymology is obscure, but it might derive from the word Waterloo. The first recorded entry is in fact from James Joyce's Ulysses (1922): "O yes, mon loup. How much cost? Waterloo. Watercloset".

Other theories are:

  • That it derives from the term "gardyloo" (a corruption of the French phrase gardez l'eau (or maybe: Garde de l'eau!) loosely translated as "watch out for the water!") which was used in medieval times when chamber pots were emptied from a window onto the street. However the first recorded usage of "loo" comes long after this term became obsolete.
  • That the word comes from nautical terminology, loo being an old-fashioned word for lee. The standard nautical pronunciation (in British English) of leeward is looward. Early ships were not fitted with toilets but the crew would urinate over the side of the vessel. However it was important to use the leeward side. Using the windward side would result in the urine blown back on board: hence the phrases 'pissing into the wind' and 'spitting into the wind'. Even now most yachtsmen refer to the loo rather than the heads.
  • That an early British toilet manufacturer produced a model of cistern named "Waterloo" (in honour of the Battle of Waterloo), and the term derives from 'going to the Waterloo', and then abbreviated to simply as 'going to the `loo'.

WC

The WC refers to the initial letters of Water Closet, used commonly in France (pronounced "le vay-say" or "le vater"). This modern usage is correct when referring to the bathroom only, as the proper French pronunciation of the letter "W" is "duble-vay," making the original pronunciation "le duble-vay-say." However, this longer form has become virtually obsolete in French speaking regions. The term is also used in the Netherlands (pronounced "waysay") and in Germany (pronounced "vey-tsay").

In Mexico, WC is very common everywhere on public toilets, although the majority of the people there do not know the meaning of the 'mysterious' letters on the door. The same can be said for Hungary.

Khazi

Lexicographer Eric Partridge derives khazi, also spelt karzy, kharsie or carzey, from a low Cockney word carsey originating in the late 19th century and meaning a privvy. Carsey also referred to a den or brothel. It is presumably derived from the Italian casa for house, with the spelling influenced by similar sound to khaki. Khazi is now most commonly used in the city of Liverpool in the UK, away from its cockney slang roots.

Dunny

The Dunny is an Australian expression for an outside toilet. See outhouse. The person who appeared weekly to empty the pan beneath the seat was known as the dunnyman. The word derives from the British dialect word dunnekin, meaning dung-house. It is now an informal word used for any lavatory and is most often used referring to drop or pit lavatories in the Australian bush.

Privy

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The Privy is an old fashioned term used more in the North of England and in Scotland, a possible derivation meaning PRIVate place. It is used interchangeably in North America for various terms for the outhouse.

Latrine

Latrine is a term common in the military, specifically for the Army and Air Force for any point of entry facility where human waste is disposed of, which a civilian might call a bathroom or toilet, regardless of how modern or primitive it is.

Culture

Toilet training

An important part of early childhood education is toilet training.

Graffiti

Public toilets have been associated with graffiti, often of a transgressive, gossippy, or low-brow humorous nature (cf. toilet humour). The word latrinalia --from latrine 'toilet' and -alia, signifying a worthless collection--was coined to describe this kind of graffiti. A famous example of such artwork, was featured on the album cover of the satirical Tony-award Broadway musical Urinetown, using felt tip pen scribblings.

Popular culture

In November, 2007, the twelfth restaurant in a toilet-themed chain opened in Taipei. ]

How toilet cisterns work

Cisterns are either lever or push button operated. Cisterns operated by a push button are available in single (6ltr) or dual flush (3ltr/6ltr) depending on the range. The majority of cisterns are now internal overflow; this means in the event of a failure, the water will be contained within the unit. A flushing trough is an apparatus which serves several WC pans from one long cistern body. It is designed in this way to allow more frequent flushing. These can be found in schools, colleges and public toilets although are becoming less common.


How they are made

Pottery is made by a blend of clays, fillers and fluxes being fused together during the firing process. A white or coloured glaze is applied and is fused chemically and physically to the clay body during the same firing process. The finished product (vitreous china) has a very hard surface and is resistant to fading, staining, burning, scratching and acid attack. Due to the firing process and natural clays used, it is normal for the product to vary in size and shape, and +/- 5mm is normal.

Manufacturers

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List of manufacturers of toilets and fixtures:

Further reading

References

  1. http://www.harappa.com/indus/12.html
  2. http://www.the-south-asian.com/April2004/toilet_museum.htm
  3. http://tampub.uta.fi/index.php?tiedot=79
  4. http://www.infoweb.co.nz/toilet
  5. http://www.victoriancrapper.com/Toilethistory.HTML
  6. http://www.amazon.com/Poop-Culture-America-Grossest-National/dp/193259521X Poop Culture: How America is Shaped by its Grossest National Product by Dave Praeger ISBN 1-932-59521-X
  7. A History of Technology, Vol.IV: The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1850. (C. Singer, E Holmyard, A Hall, T. Williams eds) Oxford Clarendon Press, pps. 507-508, 1958
  8. http://naturesplatform.com/health_benefits.html#antiquity
  9. "Why Do We Say?" (1987) by Nigel Rees
  10. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dunny

See also

External links

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