Going to the bathroom

[cbmvax!uunet!pyramid.com.au!major (Major)]

> I'm surprised that Major hasn't spoken up on this issue.

Lojbab knows of my intense interest in the subject of going to the
bathroom 8-). Actualy, we discussed just this example when I visitied
him a few weeks ago.

I would be surprised if there was even one culture in which it would
be polite to say to a stranger (the literal translation of) "I want to
excrete". The problem is that different cultures will use different
euphemisms. Possibilities include:

1. Say you want to be in the place where the excretion will happen
   "I want to go to the toilet" 

2. Say you want to do some non-excreting act physicaly involved in
   excreting in your culture "I want to squat".

3. Say you want to do some act incidentaly associated with excreting
   (even when it will not be involved in the particular act of
   excreting) "I want to spend a penny".

There are lots more, but you get the idea. If we are to be
culture-neutral we must either make up our own euphemisms or say it
like it is. I vote for the latter, but I'm like that 8-).

Major

[1] This is the most common form for Australians, BTW. Americans use
    a second-level euphemism "I want to go to the bathroom" (advice
    for tourists: don't say this is Australia, you are likely to be
    directed to a room containing a bath or shower).