Help with wording

[donutsweeper]

UK peeps, a question on wording (that I'm too embarrassed about to post over at  dw_britglish .)

For a US character I would say that, after receiving a a life-altering injury, a character is barely capable of going to the bathroom by himself.  Bathroom, in this case, would mean the ability to use the toilet and wash up and whatnot.

Would the UK wording be "use the w.c. (or is it WC) by himself" or simply toilet or lavatory or....?  Help!

Comments

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

*g* I get why you don't want to post that in a public forum...

It really depends how graphic you want to get. In conversation, no one uses WC, ever. The character (depending who it is) might say "can't use the loo" or "can't even take a pee by himself" or you might say "can even go to the toilet by himself" which has a better rhythm. We might say "can't use the bathroom" meaning the same as you mean - use the loo, get showered etc - but we're more likely to be specific. So, "can't take a shower" or "can't get out of the bath" would be more likely.

Just, whatever you do, don't use WC or lavatory unless you're/the character's being sarcastic ;)

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Just, whatever you do, don't use WC or lavatory unless you're/the character's being sarcastic ;)

I didn't think so, but that's what all the UK/US dictionaries were suggesting. I think I'll say loo then- it seems a bit more encompassing a term- that it could mean using the toilet and washing up or whatever.

Thanks!

[sistercarrion.livejournal.com]

Yeah, not WC.

Not lavatory unless you're after a degree of formality. Toilet would be more usual than bathroom in the UK. Loo tends to be informal, light-hearted even.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I was pretty sure that WC wasn't used, even if the dictionaries insisted on it. Okay, so toilet seems more the term to use.

SO- would "they'd gotten him to the point where he could manage the simplest of tasks if prompted. Eating. Dressing. Using the toilet. But anything else was beyond his abilities." work?

[sistercarrion.livejournal.com]

Yup, yup. That sounds right to my ears anyway.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Excellent, thanks!

[unfeathered]

As a bit of an aside (since the original question's already been answered), I'd consider 'take a shower' to sound very American. I would say 'have a shower'. I also would say 'have a pee' or even just 'pee' rather than 'take a pee'. Interesting. :-)

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

have a pee sounds really weird to me... like it's something you actually can have and hold in your hands or something.

I think my brain might just be a wee bit broken these days. :)

[unfeathered]

Yeah, but on the other hand, if you're taking a pee, where are you taking it to (or from)? *g*

Language is funny. :-)

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

*blinks* okay that's an excellent point as well.

[unfeathered]

*bows* Thank you!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

of course if we wrote and spoke in a way that left nothing to question it would sound weird and clinical

[unfeathered]

Yep. *g*

To be honest, a lot of the language we use doesn't make a lot of sense when you actually dissect it and try to take it literally. :-)

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

very true. and all the euphemisms can be really confusing. Think about all the ways you can say that someone died... passed on, etc

[unfeathered]

Exactly.

And then there's all the things that you Americans have taken and changed or missed bits out of. 'I could care' is one that particularly bugs me because it doesn't make sense. The English version 'I couldn't care less' does. *g*

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

Hee. Half of my job is pointing out and explaining that stuff to learners of English. And they're always pointing out crazy things I haven't noticed before. Idiom, phrasal verbs, it's all kind of nuts! But it's what makes the language *live*.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

it's weird how there are such differences in the language that way. UK vs US, with also Canadian and Australian changes too.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I bet that's really fascinating- trying to explain it all, especially when there aren't rules or reasons!

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

I've never heard anybody say "I could care" meaning "I couldn't care less." Huh, maybe it's a regional thing? Or something new? Although I have heard "I could care less," which makes no sense.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

hmmm, I guess I've only heard 'I could care less' and "I couldn't care less" too. I suppose they mean the same thing, but it's odd how they sort of don't as well

[unfeathered]

Really? I've heard it all over the place in songs and tv! And that seemed to be what was meant!

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

All I can usually do is point it out and explain how it's used. It would take forever to research where it came from or why we do it! Though occasionally I'll find something and share.

I always feel so bad when we talk about phrasal verbs. All I can say is "you have to memorize the usage of each one" because "burn up" and "burn down" mean basically the same thing, and we say "mess up" but there's no "mess down" at all...

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

in songs and tv

I wonder if it's one of those things that just hasn't made it to the middle of the country yet. Trends in language and... well pretty much all trends here seem to start on the coasts (where the media are centered) and work their way in.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

oh boy.

AS a kid, what I remember most was the confusion over find/found, bind/bound, mind/minded, etc. Bloody language always messing me up!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I don't know, I grew up in NY and don't really know the phrase "I could care" either.

Do you really think that language works that way- NYC and LA as starting points and seeping in to the rest of the US from there?