Re: CHAT When is a bath not a bath? (Re: Hymn to IKEA etc)
| From: | Douglas Koller, Latin & French <latinfrench@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, February 27, 2004, 21:15 |
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Ray writes:
>On Friday, February 27, 2004, at 12:33 AM, Joseph Fatula wrote:
>[snip]
>>You'd be hard pressed to find a "lavatory" around here, though about half
>>the people in this city would understand that "lava" means "wash"...
"Lavatory" sounds about as dated and forced as "powder room", though
it *is* out there in the ether.
>Now in Britain they've all been transmogrified into "toilets" (which 50
>years back had only reached 'articles used in dressing, mode or process of
>dressing' in its gradual passage from 'small cloth' [<-- french 'toile <--
>Latin 'te:la' = 'web'] to the modern meaning of 'place usd for urination
>and defecation' - what a semantic journey!)
In Koller sarcasm-speak which my parents and I use regularly, a "high
toilette," pronounced à la française, means "full vacuations,
ablutions, showering, shaving, coiffing, and dressing" (better known
as "over an hour").
--------------------
"So, when can we expect you?"
A) "Well, it's not a high toilette." = "I'll be there shortly."
B) "Well, I haven't started my toilette yet." = "Get a magazine."
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