Re: Cloak room... x: [YAEUT] Lexical variation survey

> >> "familiy bathroom" (i.e. main bathroom, typically toilet, sink and
> >> bath with shower) and "downstairs cloaks" ('cloakroom', i.e. small
> >> downstairs toilet and sink - e.g. for guests)
> >
> > Yep - the 0.5 bathroom of the USA is a 'cloak(room)' as far as estate
> > agents are concerned. It's said to be derived from Public School (i.e.
> > posh private school) slang where 'cloak' = 'cloaca' (Latin for "sewer"  :)
>
> That's interesting.  For some reason I'd always thought the "cloak room"
> was a clothes-closet that was located near the front or back door, that
> you would take off your cloak (that is, long-coat), put it on a hanger,
> and hang it in the "cloak room" before heading on into the house proper.
To me, the "cloak room" was something we had in elementary school; one of the
walls could actually open up (via a bunch of panels all revolving) to reveal a
closet-like area behind it. In the mornings, that's where we stored our coats
(and bags &c), and in the evenings, where we obtained them again. Coats, of
course, being the modern form of cloaks.

The word "room" would imply an ability to walk into; the difference between a coat
closet and a cloak room is that the former is too shallow to justify entering,
while the latter would mean that it could be entered. (Walk-in closets
straddling the line here).

I have never heard of a half bathroom called a cloakroom, and I'm from the USA.
On the other hand, I've also never bought a house; though I'm at the age where
I've started looking into it, and from what I've seen (and heard from growing
up), half bath(room)s are always just called half bath(room)s. I'm in St.
Louis, MO, so maybe it's a regional thing?

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