a call of nature
using the lavatory
TRANSLATION
to answer the call of nature = mal kurz verschwinden gehen, einen Aufruf der Natur nehmen, seine Notdurft verrichten, ein dringendes natürliches Bedürfnis erledigen —— “Nature calls” = “Ich muss mal”
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
When NATURE CALLS a Bus Driver - Riders on a Third Avenue bus were surprised when the driver pulled over and left them for a bathroom break.
The New York Times (Metropolitan Diary)
Did you
know?
call of nature
idiom (humorous)
- some people talk about a call of nature when referring politely to the need to go to the toilet
Collins Dictionary
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PHRASE ORIGIN
Prior to its use as a euphemism, “call of nature” was used to describe our urge to enjoy the pleasures of rural tranquillity. The euphemistic meaning was coined in the mid-18th century and begins appearing in print around that time.
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BEWARE THE TOILET!
In US-English, the word “toilet” refers to the porcelain receptacle for human waste, but not usually to the room in which it’s situated. In the UK it can refer to both the room or the receptacle.
So, when in the US, the word “toilet” is perfectly usable when referring to an object: “I stood on the toilet in order to change the lightbulb.”
In the US, the word “bathroom” is used as a euphemism, together with variants like “restroom”, “washroom”, “men’s room”, “ladies’ room”, or “comfort station”.
In the UK, people avoid the word “toilet”, preferring the informal “loo” or “lav”, or “lavatory”. But more common are euphemistic phrases like: “I'm just going to spend a penny”, or “I’m just off to wash my hands”, or “I’d like to freshen up”, or “Nature calls”.
Years ago, I asked a German receptionist: “Excuse me, where may I quickly wash my hands?” After giving me a puzzled look, she pointed to a small room with a coffee machine and a washbasin and said, “There you can quickly wash your hands”.
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SYNONYMS
- a room, building, or cubicle containing a toilet or toilets
amenities, bathroom, bog, bogger, brasco, can, chamber pot, cloakroom, closet (of ease), comfort room (station), commode, convenience(s), crapper, earth closet, facilities, gentlemen’s room, Gents, girls’ room, honey bucket, jakes, john, khazi, Ladies, ladies’ room, latrine, lav, lavatory, litter box, little boys’ (girls’) room, little (necessary) house, loo, men’s room, porcelain bus, pot, potty, powder (closet) room, privy, public bathroom (convenience, lavatory, toilet, rest room, smallest room, the head (on a boat), throne, thunderbox, toilet, urinal, W.C., washroom, water closet, WC, women’s room
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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:
“Please excuse me for a moment, NATURE IS CALLING.”
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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:
https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3
and,
Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40
