What, you missed it? (It was Tuesday). Maybe you were…indisposed. It’s the world’s most popular holiday — the average person dedicates 1 ½ years of their life to it! Ergo, the United Nations officially proclaimed November 19th World Toilet Day! So, enjoy this festive gallery, followed by some Fascinating Toilet Facts!
Click on any image to enlarge it, or to start slide show.
Use the Force!
I’ll be in my office.
Way out house
Why are toilets seats always so cold?
Wait–where does the plumbing lead to?
What happens to the fish when I flush?
Time travel toilet (early model)
Time travel toilet (advance model)
Are you mocking me? 1
Well, the tiles are nice.
Are you mocking me? 2
Going in style!
Too pretty to use.
Where’s the toilet pa–oh, never mind.
Throne of Games
Adds new meaning to “I’ll go in the woods.”
We have seen the future, and used it.
VERY public toilet.
Swarosvski Crystal toilet. Very practical.
Swiss Alps.
Well, the view’s nice (Siberian outhouse)
Sumo toilet. Hey-yah!
Soviet era People’s Toilet
How, um, romantic?
Repurposing taken too far.
Very Lazy Boy
Going Dutch
Porceleain beauty.
Please remain seated.
On second thought, I’ll hold it.
Parade Comode?
I’ll never run out of TP again!
Going on the go
Muscle car comode
Roughing it in the Mojave Desert
Restroom for drunks.
King George II model
Inspirational Relief
(Barely) covering the basics
Hurry up in there!
If’n ya gotta, ya gotta
Water the flowers
Horns of Relief
Makin’ tunes.
Do I really have to pee?
Toilet of Doom
C’mon, one more rep–you can do it!
Catoilet
Bacon toilet. Because, well, bacon.
Billion dollar wipes
And now we wait…
Fascinating Toilet Facts
- Toilet paper was invented by the Chinese in the 6th Century, but wasn’t widely used in the west until 1300 years later! Side note: the Chinese sometimes build toilets for dogs (but then again, they eat dogs, so…).
- In 1760 England’s King George II died after falling off a toilet seat (true), which may be the source of the euphemism “throne.”
- Toilets are dangerous: Over 40,000 Americans are injured in bathrooms every year!
- Toilets were forbidden in movies until one was shown flushing just before the infamous shower scene in Psycho (1960).
- In Afghanistan, 90% of homes have TVs, but only 7% have flush toilets.
- Bonus fact (by me): More pee hits the floor in front of a typical men’s room urinal than water goes over Niagara Falls each year!
- Bonus fact (by me): Some toilets actually contain drinking fountains called bidets! (Weird, I know, but the water is surprisingly good.)
Toilet Euphemisms
- John – From Sir John Harrington, creator of Britain’s first flushable toilet.
- Loo – From the French guardez l’eau, meaning “watch out for the water.”
- Restroom – “Public Restroom” is the most widely used toilet term in North America, yet surprisingly few people actually “rest” or take naps in them.
- Bathroom – “Public bathroom” is used nearly as often as Public Restroom. But, come on, have you ever actually taken a bath in one? Oddly, Americans say they’re “going to the bathroom” when they are already in the bathroom. This is because “go” means all things to Americans (“So I go, ‘I have to go because I gotta go'”).
- Lavatory – Latin word meaning “wash basin.” Not to be mistaken for laboratory (experimentation is not encouraged in public lavatories).
- Potty – From the traditional use of pots to “potty train” children.
- Head – Nautical term. Located at the head of the ship (surprisingly, nowhere near the poop deck), so the wind will blow away that special sailor aroma.
- Crapper – Thomas Crapper & Co Ltd. made toilets in Britain. American soldiers in WWI found this hilarious because of the previously existing term “crap,” which came from the Dutch word “crappen,” meaning something you throw away.
- Toilet – Yes, toilet is a euphemism, too! It’s from the French “toilette,” to attend to one’s appearance, freshness, or scent. As a kid I saw a bottle of “toilet water” (perfume) in my parent’s bathroom and laughed for the rest of the day.
- Suggestion: Since even the word “toilet” is a euphemism, let’s all adopt the phrase, “Pardon me while I use the euphemism.”
Crappy Happy World Toilet Day!
Oh my!
😂🤣 Interesting topic. When you gotta go…
;>)
Haha!! 😆 wow…interesting 🚽
I was watching game shows on YouTube and on Press Your Luck you could win a gold-plated toilet kid you not!
This is why the human race is doomed.
In Canada, where I recently visited, public restrooms are called “washrooms.” I finally figured out why I was getting funny looks when I would ask where the “restrooms” were. 🙂 Some great information here!
Yep, we have euphemisms for our euphemisms.
Fun post, Mitch. It reminded me of one I wrote back in 2017 about a Korean home that was designed to resemble a huge toilet: https://mereinkling.net/2017/01/18/discussing-awkward-subjects/
I described it as “toiletology gone awry.” The created established the World Toilet Association, which for all I know is still admitting new members.
;>)
This is the most disturbing collection of toilets I’ve ever seen. So naturally I love this post.
;>)
Interesting collection, to say the least. Love the porcelain. The crystal, why? And now I will be going down a rabbit hole figuring out how to clean most of them. What happens in an overflow?
;>)
Very interesting. Love this post, Mitch.
Glad you enjoyed it, Carla.
Lots of interesting info and great pictures. I believe the ice toilet above is from the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi in northern Sweden. When we were going to visit the ice hotel I showed my oldest son a photo of an ice toilet. He was very excited about going there until I did that. Then I explained to him that it was just art. They had real toilets/bathrooms.
;>)
Some very interesting designs. Some a little to fancy I think for a toilet….however, we all have different preferences. Enjoy the weekend Mitch.
You too, Cora.
In the spirit of this lavatorial celebration you should check out this episode of my podcast The TEMP.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/royal-flush/id1450100876?i=1000580978482
Will do, Michael. And good to hear from you! Love to the fam.
Ha ha. I forwarded this to a few (male) relatives who I think would enjoy it!
;>)
LOL!
Do we really spend 1.5 years on the potty? Maybe I SHOULD bring something to read so all that time isn’t “waste.”
;>)
Thanks for the fun potty trivia and the crazy images of unique/bizarre toilets. The most chilling one is the ice toilet! 🙂
;>)
This is hilarious.
We spend 1.5 yrs on the john? Man, I’m getting rid of those books and mags on the tank 😎
;>)
Very interesting that Psycho of all movies features the first toilet scene.
I laughed at the term “toilet water,” too. I guess we were easily amused back then.
;>)
Mitch, what a hoot! Who knew? I laughed the whole way through. The pics are hilarious! Thanks, I needed a laugh today!
My pleasure, as always, Peggy!
Hi, Mitch,
You asked in a previous post if we had any trouble commenting or liking your posts. Up until now, I never did. But on the most recent post on Saturday (not this one), I clicked the comment button and it said “page not found”. That happened on both my computer and my phone. So yeah, there is something wrong with your WordPress account that may be giving you the weird stats! Hope you get to the bottom of it because your posts are great!
I appreciate the heads-up, Caroll! Would you mind re-posting this comment under my https://mitchteemley.com/2024/11/18/help-im-being-wordpress-supressed/ post? A WordPress happiness engineer has promised to read people’s comments there. Btw, I’m having comments issues myself lately. A lot of people aren’t receiving notifications when I like or reply to their comments — so I hope you see this one! Thanks!
The “euphemism” that has mirrors all on the outside, a “VERY Public Toilet,” should have been photoed with the door open. Those are one-way mirrors, and the user can view everything on the outside! Just don’t use it at night with the light on!!😱
;>)
When you gotta go, you gotta go!
World Toilet Day?? Stop stalling, seize the day!
Sometimes life stinks, but you’ve gotta plunger ahead.
;>)
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