British Toilet Association: Archived News from the British Toilet Association 

Polite Brits go to ‘the loo’

According to new research released today by SCA*, one of the world’s leading hygiene companies, eight out of ten polite Brits now use the word ‘loo’ to describe the place they visit for their daily ablutions! In comparison less than two in ten of us cheekily refer to our bathroom visits with classic British phrases such as going to the ‘bog’, ‘lav’ or ‘khazi’. 

It seems that women are more concerned about being polite while referencing the smallest room in the house with an average of 70% using more pleasant names such as ‘loo’, ‘toilet’ or ‘bathroom’, whilst one in four men just prefer to go to the ‘bog’. It also seems that the English (85%) would rather make a trip to the ‘loo’ than the Welsh (77.8%) and Scottish (77.6%) who are more likely to use the word ‘toilet’; those in the North East are most likely to go and use the colloquial ‘Netty’, while the Welsh prefer to visit ‘The ty bach’.

The research, which was undertaken to support the launch of the SCA 2010 ‘Hygiene Matters’ report*, shows that the UK’s top ten words to describe the bathroom are as follows:

1. Loo 80.8%
2. Toilet 77.6%
3. Bathroom 42.4%
4. Gents/Ladies 30.1%
5. Bog 15.5%
6. Little boys/girls rooms 7.9%
7. Lav 5.1%
8. WC 3.9%
9. Khazi 3.2%
10. The ty bach 1.5%

TV Etiquette expert Liz Brewer comments:

"These survey results from SCA are both horrifying and encouraging for an etiquette expert. Coarse language such as 'bog' and 'lav' sends shivers down my spine! However, many British people are speaking the Queen's English by using the word 'loo' when referring to their lavatory visits. This is, from a good manners point of view, far more acceptable than the commonly used word 'toilet', which derives from the French word toilette (pronounced "twä-lt"), meaning the act of dressing or grooming oneself. Hopefully, this move towards more well-spoken Brits is a trend that will continue!

SCA’s 2010 ‘Hygiene Matters’ report comprises more detailed research into worldwide cleanliness and hygiene with a focus on nine countries including the UK. It was commissioned to provide a greater understanding of personal-hygiene attitudes and behaviours worldwide, and follows on from the report published in 2009.

The 2010 report reveals that 63.9% of Brits feel that the toilet is the most unhygienic place we visit in everyday life, with 66.7% of people agreeing that hygiene standards in public toilets desperately need to be improved. Apparently as much as 30% of us have chosen to wait rather than risk using a public toilet! The report also shows that 46.4% of Brits have become more aware of the level of hygiene in public toilets since the outbreak of swine flu. In fact almost half of us believe that improving hygiene standards in public toilets would make the greatest difference to standards of general hygiene and improve people’s health.  This is in sharp comparison to results from SCA research conducted in 2008 which highlighted an alarming lack of understanding in the UK about the importance of personal hygiene.

March 22 2010