Why Toilets?
Sara Mohamed
The purpose of this study was to explore the different terms/phrases and proverbs for the word “toilet” in cultures around the world. Toilets are a daily necessity that humans rely on to cleanse their bodies from all the waste that has been collecting in. This study first introduces where the term “toilet” came from and how it changed over time. And what parts of the world still use old terms. This study also explores Europe, Asia, and the Middle East to shed light on the differences and similarities in cultures around the globe. Using dictionaries and the volume The Porcelain God: A Social History of the Toilet by Horan, Julie L. Horan, this research offers a variety of phrases that compared our modern and old ways of referring to bathrooms/toilets. The analysis of these volumes allows us to find out the origin of words and how they changed over time.
Why do we call it “Toilet”
headings or short descriptions (1-2 sentences for each research phase)
Is It Just Toilet?
Do we all refer to the same bathroom? Do all cultures have the same perspectives about bathrooms?
Phrases/terms
This map features the timelines of the different words that “Toilet” was referred to.
Bibliography
Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster,
www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-history-of-toilet.
Horan, Julie L. The Porcelain God: A Social History of the Toilet. Carol Publishing Group, 1996, 138-41.
· Stead, Naomi. “Avoidance: On Some Euphemisms for the ‘Smallest Room.’” Ladies and Gents Public Toilets and Gender, edited by Olga Gershenson and Barbara Penner, Temple University Press, 2009, pp. 127–32.
· DiPiazza, Francesca Davis. Remaking the John: The Invention and Reinvention of the Toilet. Twenty-First Century Books, 2014. – only CHECK out the blue blocks
Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, > www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-history-of-toilet.