JEDDAH, 5 January 2006 — With the arrival of the first pay lavatory in Makkah, there opens the possibility of a whole new vocabulary of local euphemisms. In the last few centuries, reference to very necessary and completely natural body functions has disappeared increasingly behind demure screens of euphemistic phrases for visiting the bathroom. In fact the facility is not even a bathroom; try bathing in one to establish the truth of that.
The demure US reference to “comfort stations” — which conjures images of luxurious pink sofas and shag pile carpets in the poorest taste — contrasts with the popular but increasingly anachronistic “spending a penny.” Pennies no longer exist as currency but the need to spend a metaphysical penny still very much exists.
Oddly enough, the phrase was more frequently used by women than men. They frequently covered the need for a visit to the lavatory — again a Latinate euphemism for washing area — by grinning coyly and saying that they “had to see a man about a dog” an expression that has its origins in the 1866 play “Flying Scud” by a prolific Irish-born playwright of the period Dion Boucicault.
One of the characters uses the words as an excuse to get away from a tricky situation, saying: “Excuse me, Mr. Quail, I can’t stop; I’ve got to see a man about a dog.” This is the only quote that seems to have survived from the play. Then it simply meant that the individual was not willing to reveal the nature of his true business.
Spending a penny though is refreshingly prosaic. It originates in the practice of charging for using public conveniences and became the British euphemism for urination. One penny was the standard charge for public lavatories at the Great Exhibition of 1851 which featured the world’s first public water closets. The charge remained that until the decimalization of UK coinage in 1971.
The success of public lavatories used at the Great Exhibition, held at Hyde Park in 1851, led to the widespread installation of public toilets in London. In 1851 Great Britain was widely recognized as the leader of the Industrial Revolution. At that time, as one source has it, more than half of all manufactured goods in the world were made in Birmingham. The exhibition in London was conceived to symbolize Britain’s industrial, military and economic superiority. George Jennings, an engineer, was given responsibility for providing public conveniences at the exhibition. Over 827,000 people paid to use public lavatories for the first time in history. More than 6.2 million people visited the exhibition and it was clear the new-fangled facilities were a huge hit.
The popularity of public conveniences stimulated the general desire to improve general hygiene levels in the mid-19th century. Without a sewerage network, the waste for over three million Londoners was simply dumped unprocessed into rivers that flowed into the River Thames. In the US it is illegal to charge for toilet use for any reason. In a Supreme Court decision, the ruling stated that a person cannot be charged a fee “because relieving oneself is a biological necessity.”
In the past some businesses used a payment system to limit access to toilets and this is still accomplished by use of a key system for patrons only or outright denying access to the general public. In most areas this is illegal in public (stadiums for example) and government buildings.
Perhaps somewhere in Saudi folklore there is a phrase or story that will rise to the status of popular euphemism for visiting the lavatory. Until then, “spending a riyal” will have to do. These days not much can be bought with a riyal — nothing except relief under pressure! Money well spent.
