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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
it is used to wash and the latin root in the word, lav means to wash
Specifically, lavabo means I shall wash.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
The source is Psalm 26:6 -- "I will wash my hands in innocence, and go about thy altar, O Lord, singing a song of thanksgiving."
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Closely related, of course, to lavatory. Translated into Americanese as "wash room". All too accurately, actually.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
I'd heard that washroom wasn't universally understood in the US. (It's what we say here when we are in "polite company".) I always hear restroom on USn-TV, and see it written on signs the few times I've been to the US (experience very limited there).
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
washroom wasn't universally understood in the US.
I could easily imagine it being taken to mean the laundry room.
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
certainly had an odd take on filling cavities!
TEd
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
for reasons that are paten-tly obvious, as has been pointed out a host of times, I'm sure.
TEd -- who never wafers from his mission to make the world a happier place through puns
TEd
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
I could easily imagine it being taken to mean the laundry room.
Yet, I've only noticed that *translation in areas where the pronunciation is predominantly "warshroom".
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
In French, the device is called "capote
anglaise"
Then there is the story : (with apologies for spellings.)
An Englishman and his French-speaking wife were on holiday in France when the wife had a heart attack and died. The husband was in dire straits as he spoke very little French beyond Hello and Thank You. With much difficulty he managed to arrange for his wife's remains to be shipped back to England for burial. As he was dressing to acompany his beloved to her final resting place he realized the rather rakish hat he'd worn for the vacation was hardly suitable for a recent widower. He looked in the dictionary and found the words "Chapeau" for hat and "noir" for black and ventured forth to buy a suitable black hat.
At the store, however, he mispronounced the word and asked for a "capote noir" - with difficulty he got through to the clerk that his wife had just died and that he needed a "capote noir." The amazed clerk regarded him for a moment and then, with awe in his voice, exclaimed : "Quelle finesse."
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