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To my many dear US Fanfic writing friends.
Dec. 1st, 2011 05:26 pmI don't think any of you make this mistake, but as some in your country obviously do, I am here to ask you to pass the word on.
In the UK, when one feels the need to eliminate bodily waste, one goes to the toilet, the lavatory, the loo - any of the above. One may refer to the room where the porcelain receptacle lies as "the bathroom" if the room contains also a bath. If the room contains only the toilet, or the toilet and a little handwashing basin, then the room tends to get referred to by the object within, or possibly as the WC (standing as it does for "water closet")
We appreciate that when people in the US need to deal with those bodily functions, they refer to using "the bathroom". (I've also heard "comfort station" and "restroom").
So, the room in the UK that contains a bath is a bathroom. It may also contain the toilet. So it is reasonable for a British person in a British location to go to the toilet in a room that contains a bath. (It'll also have a basin, and possibly a little cupboard for medicines above the basin, maybe a mirror, etc).
But it is not reasonable for a British person in a British location to go into the loo/lavatory/toilet/WC and proceed to have a bath. This gives rise to the image of Hermione Granger leaning over a toilet and holding a bar of soap. Ewwwwww.
(I've just read the fourth fanfic in a few weeks to make this mistake, and it *really* drives me nuts. Not to mention making me completely lose my suspension of disbelief. And no, they're not all recently written ones).
In the UK, when one feels the need to eliminate bodily waste, one goes to the toilet, the lavatory, the loo - any of the above. One may refer to the room where the porcelain receptacle lies as "the bathroom" if the room contains also a bath. If the room contains only the toilet, or the toilet and a little handwashing basin, then the room tends to get referred to by the object within, or possibly as the WC (standing as it does for "water closet")
We appreciate that when people in the US need to deal with those bodily functions, they refer to using "the bathroom". (I've also heard "comfort station" and "restroom").
So, the room in the UK that contains a bath is a bathroom. It may also contain the toilet. So it is reasonable for a British person in a British location to go to the toilet in a room that contains a bath. (It'll also have a basin, and possibly a little cupboard for medicines above the basin, maybe a mirror, etc).
But it is not reasonable for a British person in a British location to go into the loo/lavatory/toilet/WC and proceed to have a bath. This gives rise to the image of Hermione Granger leaning over a toilet and holding a bar of soap. Ewwwwww.
(I've just read the fourth fanfic in a few weeks to make this mistake, and it *really* drives me nuts. Not to mention making me completely lose my suspension of disbelief. And no, they're not all recently written ones).
