People in Chicago (or maybe it’s the entire Midwest too, heck if I know) call public bathrooms “washrooms.” I find this so refreshing and nice. Really, the other words we have for this kind of place are a little incorrect. Think about it—
Bathroom: unless you are a trucker at a Flying J, you do not take a bath in a public bathroom. (If I am wrong on this, please don’t correct me, because I don’t want to know how you or anyone managed to take a bath at a gas station.)
Restroom: this is just funny. I guess you can rest in there, but most people want to get out as quickly as possible.
Lavatory: I had a middle school teacher who insisted that everyone use this word. But I don’t see it anywhere else except on airplanes. Raise your hand if you say lavatory. That’s what I thought.
Washroom is morphologically and technically correct and makes the whole business seem so clean and businesslike, and I applaud the good people of Chicago for using it.
By the way, I only bring all this up because at my job, the number one question that people ask me is, “Where is the bathroom/restroom/washroom?” To which I say “Across the hall and to the left.” And they say thank you. And I get paid. And it is a wonderful life.
Anyway, I am still wishing and hoping for someone to call it a “whiz palace.”
Unfortunately I couldn’t find the scene from Parks and Rec where Leslie says that, so here she is talking about bad dates:
(OK blog people, I'm at your mercy. How do you get the video to show up, not just the link? I'm at a loss. Thank you and goodnight.)
