Home April 21, 1996
Euphemisms
Although it is a very natural and necessary part of daily life, the subject
of toilets and toilet etiquette is almost never covered in English conversation
books. One reason authors do not cover this topic is that Americans are
quite shy about toilets. In fact, the word "toilet" is almost
never used. We use euphemisms (soft words) such as bathroom, rest
room, powder room, or the necessary room
as well as the worldwide standards men's room and ladies room
when referring to the toilet.
You may be surprised that in public toilets in America there is usually no reason to knock on the individual doors as is done in Japan. Since the bottom edge of the door is quite far from the floor, it is easily understood if a stall is occupied or not.
However, if you share a restroom with others, such as in a home or in a dormitory, you need to know how to act. If one does not hear the shower running, the natural thing Americans do is knock on the door or try the doorknob to see if it is locked. If in the bathroom one usually calls out, in a somewhat annoyed manner, "Just a minute!".
When first in Japan I was startled whenever someone knocked on the toilet door. Even though I knew I was supposed to knock back I often involuntarily yelled out "Just a minute!"