tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post7766954839144054951..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: stalls and cubicleslynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-53135919036446974912015-08-28T07:36:57.925+01:002015-08-28T07:36:57.925+01:00Thanks for this great blog. I am editing a British...Thanks for this great blog. I am editing a British author's manuscript and it is handy to have background on BrE.Michael Schulerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11629493487324284195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-51783598965778323322014-05-07T22:45:01.961+01:002014-05-07T22:45:01.961+01:00My elder grandson and I had occasion to visit the ...My elder grandson and I had occasion to visit the facilities in Westfield Stratford a few months ago - the parent-and-baby rooms there have a very splendid arrangement with two loos in one room; one normal size and one child-sized. And two washbasins, one at a normal height and one at child height. My grandson thought this was a marvellous arrangement (so did I, but then, I like to indulge my inner 3-year-old from time to time!).Mrs Redboots (Annabel Smyth)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11270027663691257254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-22242627824622036702013-09-23T00:28:36.491+01:002013-09-23T00:28:36.491+01:00Strangers ask each other for paper in the US? Shoc...Strangers ask each other for paper in the US? Shocking behaviour! <br /><br />By the way, in Russian schools the toilet cubicles have no doors. Ian Mac Eochagáinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08807587737403861042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-2941266067897959012013-06-26T20:31:36.655+01:002013-06-26T20:31:36.655+01:00That would be no "ell" though, and there...That would be no "ell" though, and there is no "ell"in naivete!<br /><br />Back on topic, I'm currently in the second week of an inter-rail holiday. We spent most if the first week in the Czech Republic, and on at least two occasions I paid a small fee to use the op, and in return was given, or told to help myself to, a wadge of paper, none being provided in the cubicle. Not an arrangement I had come across before. Mrs Redboots (Annabel Smyth)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11270027663691257254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-70993012164117836442013-06-25T18:24:19.715+01:002013-06-25T18:24:19.715+01:00Mr Redboots
Nov̈el?Mr Redboots<br /><br />Nov̈el?David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-55675720314344673002013-06-25T11:05:24.134+01:002013-06-25T11:05:24.134+01:00Mrs Redboots said:
naivete (and there should be ...Mrs Redboots said: <br /><br /><i>naivete (and there should be a diaresis somewhere in that word, but am not sure where!)</i><br /><br />Try it over the 'v', that would be novel!Irinahttp://valdyas.org/fo3noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-2709648215712654142010-08-12T12:32:03.964+01:002010-08-12T12:32:03.964+01:00I check the toilet before going in and I warn any...I check the toilet before going in and I warn anyone else if there is no paper (they warn me, usually, too)then I get some from another cubicle prior to entering.<br /><br />I've had people ask me for paper before outside the cubical, or just point at the paper, grab some and then scuttle off into their cubicle, usually at school. But I've never asked a stranger to pass me some.M.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-26461885832732508522010-06-30T13:24:41.237+01:002010-06-30T13:24:41.237+01:00Amazed that no-one's commented on "CAgney...Amazed that no-one's commented on "CAgney & Lacey" when it comes to conversations between stalls/cubicles! <br /><br />That gap between the door & the jamb; yes, I've noticed it too. Seems that North American loos tend to have the door & the rest in the same plane, where UK ones hang infront/behind the supporting stuff - so you can have an overlap. <br /><br />Wonder why the differences developed - it's not as if it's a huge saving of wood! <br /><br />Also, back to the talking; I'm sure I've seen pictures in the press of cubicles in some nightclubs that have two loos (or whatever you want to call them!) in them - so that girls can chat.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-54089209386114104922010-05-07T06:53:35.209+01:002010-05-07T06:53:35.209+01:00I, too, am curious what you "I'd never as...I, too, am curious what you "I'd never ask for paper!" people do if, indeed, you need paper. You just... sit there?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-3892843562278816562010-05-04T00:10:49.438+01:002010-05-04T00:10:49.438+01:00I've had a stranger in a Brighton (BrE) publi...I've had a stranger in a Brighton (BrE) <b>public toilet</b> ask me to pass some toilet paper under the divider! How quickly I am contradicted by experience!lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-2947572660355163992010-04-25T17:53:06.210+01:002010-04-25T17:53:06.210+01:00wise words, biochemist!wise words, biochemist!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-43975648805293475762010-04-23T10:35:48.325+01:002010-04-23T10:35:48.325+01:00Come on ladies, where is your fellow-feeling (or s...Come on ladies, where is your fellow-feeling (or sisterhood, as they might say in AmE)! We all have to use the loo, and on some occasions we really need to share paper - or indeed other sanitary products that should be supplied by those useful vending machines. <br />I am still haunted by the memory of a foreign lady in an airport 'Ladies', standing before an empty machine and anticipating a long journey. I did not have the items she needed, but I hoped other women might show some solidarity.<br />Julie, I think you may have missed out on part of life's rich pattern! Most middle-aged women have cleaned up their children's mess, and many will do the same for an elderly parent, so bodily functions are not a mystery! In a public place, the etiquette of silence between cubicles preserves one's modesty - but only until we discover we need help.biochemistnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-19851483377708036262010-04-22T07:49:24.581+01:002010-04-22T07:49:24.581+01:00Hmm...I'm sure I'm not "average,"...Hmm...I'm sure I'm not "average," but I hope Robbie's view is distorted.Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14376545097377854998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-20407038389205868802010-04-21T19:24:05.710+01:002010-04-21T19:24:05.710+01:00Julie, maybe you're not average? Or maybe Robb...Julie, maybe you're not average? Or maybe Robbie has a distorted view of what an "average" woman is...Cameron MacDonald Gazzola Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11460898271918397890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-34469092074810874672010-04-19T04:31:14.266+01:002010-04-19T04:31:14.266+01:00Robbie, I find your observation highly disturbing....Robbie, I find your observation highly disturbing. As I said before, it seems inconceivable. And yes, I've been middle-aged for a few years now and I am fazed and embarrassed by this entire discussion.<br /><br /><i>There's not much in the bodily functions category that can faze or embarrass the average middle-aged woman. Asking for paper is nothing.</i>Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14376545097377854998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-75808149684065679822010-04-18T16:19:22.366+01:002010-04-18T16:19:22.366+01:00I've done the exchanging-paper-under-the-door/...I've done the exchanging-paper-under-the-door/wall a couple of times, as a female person in England. In my experience, the ladies loo is one of the few places it's okay to make light conversation with strangers, without specific conditions being met. Quite often, a stranger has warned me that a cubicle doesn't have any paper, and I've done the same myself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-27744445900971772372010-04-18T15:08:12.798+01:002010-04-18T15:08:12.798+01:00Or (c) not knock, but say "Excuse me..."...Or (c) not knock, but say "Excuse me..."lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-58710717495287729582010-04-18T14:05:07.692+01:002010-04-18T14:05:07.692+01:00So you're in a cubicle (or stall) and have jus...So you're in a cubicle (or stall) and have just finished your business when you realise that there is no toilet paper (or loo roll). However you can hear that there is someone in the cubicle (or stall) next door. <br /><br />Do you (a) knock on the partition and ask for them to pass some toilet paper (or loo roll), or do you (b) wait for them to leave and then scuttle, trousers down, from one cubicle (stall) to the other, hoping that nobody enters the toilet (restroom) while you are en route?JD (The Engine Room)https://www.blogger.com/profile/00836972574430969375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-12644107354786567522010-04-17T21:45:39.463+01:002010-04-17T21:45:39.463+01:00I can't believe no one has mentioned that epis...I can't believe no one has mentioned that episode of Seinfeld with Elaine in the ladies' room! Oh look...I love how old things always end up online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gysu0kgFwT0Laura in Cambridgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-24267906002275323232010-04-17T15:39:34.686+01:002010-04-17T15:39:34.686+01:00By the way, I've (ScE) been known to refer to ...By the way, I've (ScE) been known to refer to the toilets in the gents' as "stalls", in fact I did so the day before this article appeared, in a Facebook description of the place in Heathrow Airport where I first read the sheet-soiling scene in Trainspotting and what a good job it was that I was there.Cameron MacDonald Gazzola Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11460898271918397890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-80592308394362763292010-04-17T15:37:33.230+01:002010-04-17T15:37:33.230+01:00@vp:
"We have an open plan office".@vp:<br />"We have an open plan office".Cameron MacDonald Gazzola Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11460898271918397890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-3676751026066057772010-04-16T15:52:56.302+01:002010-04-16T15:52:56.302+01:00@Andy JS:
I am lucky enough to work in an open-pl...@Andy JS:<br /><br />I am lucky enough to work in an open-plan office <b>without</b> dividers of any kind (yes, I did say lucky -- it reflects the open and unbureaucratic spirit within my company).<br /><br />In AmE one just says "we don't have offices -- we don't even have cubicles!". How would one say that in BrE?vphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16647609487352038948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-55313327122673020302010-04-16T13:56:43.590+01:002010-04-16T13:56:43.590+01:00I worked in an open-plan-type office. We just refe...I worked in an open-plan-type office. We just referred to our desks. Management-speak tended to say "workspace".<br /><br />But then, they weren't anything I would call a cubicle. More sort of a large desk divided into individual areas with dividers a foot or two high. There was no sense of being in a separate roomlet.<br /><br />Like this: http://www.airportbusinesscentre.net/data/images/img/0002%20LimeJuice.jpgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-82337302447576510012010-04-16T00:13:13.111+01:002010-04-16T00:13:13.111+01:00Susanna - I think that kind of office arrangement ...Susanna - I think that kind of office arrangement in the UK is simply referred to as "open plan", or "open plan office".Andy JShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15819413906544791899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-25819132144191337782010-04-15T23:15:39.246+01:002010-04-15T23:15:39.246+01:00Huh, I managed to live in England for a year witho...Huh, I managed to live in England for a year without ever learning that what I would call bathroom stalls were called cubicles. Guess it never came up in conversation beyond, "Where's the loo?"<br /><br />What's the BrE for what Americans call cubicles, i.e. office workspaces without doors and with partitions ~5 feet high rather than proper walls?Susanna Fraserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16149293228696867804noreply@blogger.com