“The powder room”. Or what do you call it?

My grandmother, mother and aunt always said, 'Going to see auntie'

I think I was about nine when I first heard, 'Going to the loo' and that's what I've said ever since.

Maw the history books at primary school ...way back in the early 60's said "garde loo" came from "Regardez l'eau" If you know different/better thats fine .In Edinburgh two years ago with my Canadian cousin the bus tour guide repeated the same thing so I'll stick with that thanks .The Edinburgh that was at the heart of the Auld Alliance in the 1400's .Maybe they spoke more grammatical French by the time Mary Stuart came along ..who knows

Nobody has mentioned “powder my nose” or “freshen up” yet have they?
“Powder my nose” was considered entirely acceptable when eating out.

At primary school, we had to ask if we could use the offices. These were outside and at playtimes we had prefects on 'office duty', making sure only one person at a time used them. An awful 15 minutes in cold or wet weather.

I heard someone say he was “going to shed a tear for Nelson”

My dad used to say he was going to 'point Percy at the porcelain!'

The absolute worst, IMHO was an elderly lady in a pub I used to frequent saying "I'm going to moisten my lips". I was completely shocked and speechless. Sorry if this has offended anyone. It certainly offended me.

I don’t know when I started saying loo. In my youth, both at home and at school, everyone said lavatory. For some reason I no longer say that. I suppose I find loo more informal, but not twee like toilet, which I would never say. As for rest room, bathroom (when it isn’t), powder room, etc......ugh!

Opinions can differ Rowantree but are roughly similar

The British word for toilet, “loo”, derives from the French - In medieval Europe people had little conception of hygiene and threw the contents of their chamber pots out the window into the street below. In France the practice was preceded by “garde a l’eau!” (“watch out for the water!”). In England, this phrase was Anglicised, first to “gardy-loo!”, then just “loo”, and eventually came to mean the toilet/lavatory itself
I particularly like, however, the response which was “Haud yer han’ “ or “hold your hand” which you hoped would give you a few precious seconds to duck into a doorway for cover!

I don't understand Americans' term 'going to the bathroom'. It doesn't have a bath in it. It's a toilet.

I get the “wife’s best friend” Rowantree but really don’t understand the “laying cable”

MawB wasn't it 'Gardez l'eau!'?

My daughter's partner uses a variety of expressions, including Cockney rhyming slang...

We're all pretty graphic in our household but it's 'poo' and 'wee' with the grandchildren, 'going to the toilet/loo'.

I've also heard: 'shake hands with the wife's best friend' and my personal favourite: 'laying cable'

Meant to add “yuk” at the end of my last post .

Wasn’t it “garde à l’eau” Paddyann - ie “beware of the water!”

My lovely late grandma used to say “I’m off for a little tinkle” not sure where on Earth that came from ?

Before we go out anywhere my DGS always says “I think I’ll try a wee grandma”

The loo ,I believe its been LOO in large areas of Scotland for centuries since the "garde loo" days in Edinburgh when people chucked the contents of chamber pots out windows with the cry "garde loo" .It was the French connection of course and they were shouting "regardez l'eau" but in an Edinburgh accent it became and has stayed Loo .

My gorgeous great gran who lived well into her 90s , always used to say she was going to visit Aunt Louise, which lead to loads of confusion when i was a child thinking she had an old lady locked up somewhere in her bungalow that i could never find
As a family we still say that amongst each other , other wise i just say excuse me for a minute , I'm sure people know where I'm, going but don't want to advertise the fact

I say going to the loo.

We do however have a friend who refers to number twos as... seeing old friends off to the coast !!

I " go for a wee " or to the toil.
Dad used to say " I'm going on the shore for a loaf " and also "to see a man about a dog ", I thought for long enough we were getting a dog.

When I was young my father heard the next door neighbour's child shout 'I've run out of paper' from the bathroom, to which Dad replied 'I expect he is writing a book'.

I have been recording and enjoying 'Love it or List it Australia'. The extra toilet is always referred to as the powder room.

In our family we always 'go to the loo'. The dogs are told to 'be quick'.

When my friend was a teen, her family were just about to sit down to eat, when her dad asked where when of the children was.

"He's in the bog" said my friend, and her dad went absolutely mad!
"What did you just say?!"
"I said he's in the bog" (she never knew when to be quiet!)

She got chased from the table, up the stairs, and was given a good hiding.

Teetime when on holiday with my parents and our two little boys, my Dad announced he was going for his ablutions. My eldest son asked me "has Grandad got blue shoes?"!

My granddaughter always has a "make sure" before we go out