Pee Euphemism/ Pee Slang/ Pee Excuse

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greatwater
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Pee Euphemism/ Pee Slang/ Pee Excuse

Post by greatwater »

I'm interested in literature in English, and I have found out that Henry David Thoreau, who wrote about Walden Pond when he escaped life in the city to stay closer to nature, has written about his own urination. Very shortly though. Instead of saying it directly, which is considered improper of course, he wrote that, when he was around Walden, he said, “I have watered the red huckleberry, the sand cherry, and the nettle tree, the red pine and the black ash, the white grape and the yellow violet, which might have withered else in dry seasons.” Many critics see this as urination. I quite agree because you don't literally water pine trees, do you?

I want to know about your (or other people's) euphemism or their saying which hides the meaning that they really need to pee, or as an excuse so they can go pee. I rarely use excuse, but of course I would hold until I am about to leak, then I would tell people I need to go to toilet. I just learn these English idioms, concerning pee, from this site. (Back teeths floating/ Like a racehorse/ ...)

In Thai, we have a phrase "shooting a rabbit", which means a man peeing in nature/ on the side of the road. For women, we use "picking flowers" instead.

What about yours? What do you use? What do people use? Has anybody used slang or excuses you don't understand?
"What a relief! I thought I was gonna wet myself at the interview!"
"Damn the traffic! Been holding for about three hours!"
"Here we go! Ahhhhhhh Amazing piss!"
Brian
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Re: Pee Euphemism/ Pee Slang/ Pee Excuse

Post by Brian »

In my country euphemisms for peeing are simply unknown because no-one sees the need to be coy about needing to go. There are several different words for peeing in Dutch with varying degrees of formality or crudity, but they're all simple and direct. I imagine even the prime minister or the king might use those words when the need arises - though both might well be aware that you don't talk about the subject with foreign dignitaries at state visits, because there is an awareness here that our language is more direct and to-the-point than it is in many other parts of the world.

A very long time ago I lived in the UK, however. I remember once someone saying that they "just had to pay a visit" before disappearing in the direction of the toilet.
Fred
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Re: Pee Euphemism/ Pee Slang/ Pee Excuse

Post by Fred »

Some of the odd ones that I recall:

"See a man about a horse"
"Water a tree"
"Bend a tree"
My elementary school's toilets were downstairs, so "Go to the basement"
Fred
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Re: Pee Euphemism/ Pee Slang/ Pee Excuse

Post by Fred »

Further thoughts on the subject:

In the US, the most common term, "go to the bathroom" has nothing to do with bathing, and you don't go to a "rest room" to rest. In some places toilets are in a separate room, and I recall a true story about someone in a foreign land asking for the bathroom and being brought to a small room that contained only a bathtub.

I have heard "drain the vein" and "use the plumbing" and "get rid of some beer". Even "taking a leak" is not that direct.

Certainly we consider the activity to be very delicate and personal even though we all do it several times a day, and in polite society we mention it only when we must, and in the vaguest possible terms.
bodgyuk
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Re: Pee Euphemism/ Pee Slang/ Pee Excuse

Post by bodgyuk »

In the UK, women 'go to powder their nose', there is 'going for a slash', in Scotland 'going for a pish', occasionally, 'going to see a man about a dog', though that can also be used for being evasive and secretive over something that an individual is about to do.

Others that spring to mind, 'spending a penny', 'having a tinkle', 'have to point Percy at the porcelain'.
greatwater
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Re: Pee Euphemism/ Pee Slang/ Pee Excuse

Post by greatwater »

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/286700.html The list in the link is quite funny.
"What a relief! I thought I was gonna wet myself at the interview!"
"Damn the traffic! Been holding for about three hours!"
"Here we go! Ahhhhhhh Amazing piss!"
burstingguys
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Re: Pee Euphemism/ Pee Slang/ Pee Excuse

Post by burstingguys »

A Buddy told me about a phrase his college pals would use when needing to find a discreet spot to do their business: "Helping Jack Out."

They were huge into frat life and Jack supposedly was a friend of theirs who humiliated himself rather badly (trying to contain a beer bladder pushed far past capacity) in line at a house party with their sister sorority.

"I'm gonna go help Jack out" has henceforth been their way of telling each other "I'm dying to pee - gonna go find a bush."
"I gotta get in there man!"
Sam70
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Re: Pee Euphemism/ Pee Slang/ Pee Excuse

Post by Sam70 »

Here in the South in the US, women as to the UK women go "to powder their nose."

When I was growing up, when I would ask my father where he was going he would reply "to see a man about a dog." The area where he was raised and was hilly. There were a significant number of immigrants from Scotland.

My father referred to a person having an accident in their pants as "filling their britches." I never heard that term anywhere else until the Internet came along. I thought it a phrase my father had invented.

I've seen that phrase or "filled my pants" from people from the UK several times on the Internet. At least in some of those instances, the writer was from Scotland.

Can the members here from the UK or anywhere shed light on the use of the phrase "filling pants or britches?"

Does the word "filling" refer to just soiling or does it also refer to peeing pants as well?

"Drain the lizard" is common in the area where I live in the South, US as well as:

take a leak
take a break
potty break
wee break
going to the privy
going to the outhouse
going to the relief station
have a need
empty the bladder
bursting or about to burst
eyelids are floating
go freshen up or get freshened up

I have moved around over time to different areas in the South, US and these expressions have appeared in one or all the areas where I have lived.

Obviously, people know (knew) what these phrases meant. Perhaps the goal was to make a joke out of it so everyone could laugh a bit and not make it awkward for anyone.

Even today, the term piss is considered a term not allowed in polite company by many. To some to say about to wet my pants would pass as being polite, but about to pee my pants would not be considered polite.

Years ago women who were pregnant were said to be

expecting
in a motherly way

The term pregnant was considered a no no word as much as the term shit is to some people.
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