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What do you call the room with a toilet VS. the room with the bathtub? (American, British, Canadian English)?

If a bathroom ca be a room with a toilet (as in Canadian English), then what do you call a room that has a bathtub but no toilet?

YES I asked this question before. After much deliberation, I wanted to try again. I need a descriptive answer, not a prescriptive one! I teach English for communication, not essay-writing. Ie., I need to know how people actually talk, not what (a native speaking) school teaches you you _should_ say.

Now I know I'm not the only one in the world who says "bathroom" even when it has no bath. I just heard it on Beavis & Butthead, for example.

No pedantic answers please! (like this - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AvPgQ... )

Update:

I should have been more clear. The important bit is; what do you call a a bathtub-but-no-toilet room.

to RE: You're right. I did ask a fairly "pedantic" question, didn't I ...

to Wiininiskwe: I also have not come across "many rooms that only have a tub" in my life, which is why I had to ask the internet!

Thank you both for reading the whole question.

6 Answers

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  • ?
    Lv 7
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Bathroom is a euphemism anyway, so it is not meant to be descriptive. In Canada you often hear 'washroom', which is a little more accurate since where there is a toilet, there should be a sink for washing up. In the US, the term used in commercial establishments (where there is never a bathtub) is 'restroom', another euphemism. Also, it is rare in the US to have a room with a bathtub but no toilet, except in high-end residences. That room is still called a bathroom, and the toilet room is given the old euphemism of 'water closet'. By the way, when you ask a pedantic question, you must expect the occasional pedantic answer.

  • 9 years ago

    I am a British teenager.

    The bathroom is used for a room containing a bath.

    The toilet is a room containing a toilet.

    However, these can be used interchangeably. No British person will have any qualms about calling a room with a toilet in it, 'the bathroom.'

    The bathroom is also the most popular expression. Toilet is second and then 'loo', although this is more likely to be heard by people of slightly lower status. (Don't kill me! Just stating an opinion.)

    :)

  • I absolutely never call it the bathroom, regardless of whether there is a bathtub in it or not. I call it a washroom.

    When you are looking at homes, washrooms with only a sink/toilet are listed as a two piece, whereas washrooms with a toilet/sink/tub/shower are listed as three/four piece or 'full'. I can't say I have come across many rooms that only have a tub, and would necessitate their own title.....so I have no idea what they may be called.

    Source(s): Lives in Canada
  • 9 years ago

    Often both in the US and the UK people refer to a toilet without a bath as a bathroom. Other names are Ladies and Men's room,. The word toilet is found by many to be slightly unattractive. In the UK a bathroom is often referred as the loo.

    Hopes this helps

  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    I call it the bathroom if there is a bath in it, and also if there is a toilet in it.

    If there is a toilet in the room I call it the toilet. I'm not afraid to say toilet! Sometimes I've called it the loo but that sounds too funny to me. In school I called it the bog for a while - yuk.

    I'm British.

  • Yep
    Lv 4
    9 years ago

    We call it a bathroom if it has no tub and a full bathroom if it has a tub, I have heard the non-tub been called a half bathroom.

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