Have you ever seen the letters “WC” outside a public bathroom and wondered what they mean? You’re not alone! Many people around the world are curious about the “WC,” which refers to a room with a toilet and a sink.
While we can explain what “WC” stands for, it might not make much more sense than other terms like restroom, bathroom, or loo.
In 2020, a couple named Shelby and Dylan made a TikTok video showing a funny difference between how some Americans and Canadians refer to bathrooms. In the video, Dylan walks by a sign that says “washroom” and asks, “What in the world is a washroom?” He humorously wonders what people are washing in there, adding, “The only thing I wash in there is my hands.” Off-camera, Shelby chimes in, asking, “Do you rest in a restroom?”
It’s interesting to see how different cultures use different terms for the same place!
“That’s a good point. None of these terms make much sense,” Dylan says in the video.
Many people joined the conversation online, sharing their thoughts about what they call this important room.
One user commented, “It’s called a bathroom, restroom, washroom, and toilet.”
Another follower shared a funny story from Disneyland, saying they “asked for the washroom” and ended up being sent to the laundromat instead!
A third user joked, “Wait until he finds out about water closets.”
**Water Closet**
According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, a “water closet” is a term used to describe “a room with a toilet” or “a toilet bowl and its accessories.”
Long ago, when people talked about using the bathroom, it often meant taking a bath. The term “restroom” suggested a place to rest or get ready by using the sink and mirror.
Lastly, if you needed to go potty, you would use the toilet in the water closet. Depending on where you are in the world, this room is called many different names, including loo, restroom, bathroom, washroom, lavatory, or WC.
In modern times, you will often see signs that say “WC” in public places like airports, restaurants, or hotels. This is just another way to say “restroom” or “bathroom,” but it is usually seen as a more formal or international sign for places that welcome travelers from different countries.
**History of the WC**
Before the 19th century in America, having an indoor toilet was a luxury only for wealthy people. Most people used outhouses or outdoor toilets. While many homes had “bathrooms” for taking baths, these rooms usually didn’t have toilets. The installation of indoor plumbing started to become common in the late 1800s, leading to the creation of the water closet by 1890. These early water closets had toilets that were separate from bathing areas.
It wasn’t until the early 20th century that bathrooms began to combine both bathing areas and toilets into one room. This design helped save space and made plumbing simpler, but it also reduced privacy, especially when multiple people were using the bathroom.
Over time, the term “water closet” changed to refer to a small, private room within a larger bathroom that was used only for the toilet. These water closets often have a small sink for handwashing, making them convenient and self-contained.
To understand the term “water closet,” many people shared their thoughts on Reddit in a post titled, “Why is a public WC called bathroom if there is [no] bath?”
In response, one Reddit user pointed out, “Americans might ask: ‘Why is it called a WC (water closet) if it isn’t even a closet?” This user explained that in the U.S., “bathroom” or “restroom” is the common way to refer to a “room with a toilet.” Other countries use different terms, like “WC,” “lavatory,” or “loo.”
Another user mentioned that in Russian, the term translates to “a room without windows,” even if there is a window. A third user shared that in Esperanto, it’s called “necesejo,” meaning “necessary place.”
Other Reddit users talked about the differences between “washroom,” “bathroom,” and “restroom.” One commenter noted, “Canada famously uses ‘washroom,’” while another clarified that in the Midwest, “washroom” is also common, but “bathroom” and “restroom” are used more frequently.
One user humorously stated, “Best one, I think. You should be washing in there… not resting.”
What do you think about the term WC? What do you call the room that has a toilet? We would love to hear your opinions, so please share your thoughts!
This Girl Was ‘Molested’ by Babysitter as a Child — Now This 90s Icon Lives Alone with 5 Dogs on Her Farm
“I hope you die!” she told her former babysitter.
Her first wedding took place on the beach.
She thinks her new look is “a little rebellious.”
Despite her humble birth on July 1, 1967, in Ladysmith, British Columbia, to a waitress and jack-of-all-trades, the brunette in the photo’s birth was reported in a newspaper. She was the first centennial baby.
She went on to have an extraordinary life sparked by another instance of being in the right place at the right time. However, she first had to survive a traumatic childhood of violence and abuse.
Her parents were 17 and 19 when they had her and still went out occasionally. Somewhere between the ages of four and eight, she had a female babysitter who molested her for around a year.
The babysitter “sexualized” the girl at a very young age, making her play inappropriate games. One day, the caretaker told her because she is a “bad girl,” Santa Claus would not visit her that year.
“I ran after her in tears, calling her a liar… and clumsily stabbed her with a candy-cane-striped pen in her chest,” she penned in her memoir. “‘I hope you die!’ I screamed through tears.”
The female predator died in a car accident following her graduation not long after. On hearing the news, the girl came to believe it was her doing, that she had some extraordinary power. She carried this with her for her “entire young life,” eventually confiding in her mom and dad.
Her parent’s volatile relationship would also cause her to act out. Once, when the couple was fighting, she tried to divert attention away from it by telling her younger brother to hide while she convinced the town that he was missing.
Her father would dole out cruel punishments. When she went against his wishes to have her kittens in the house, he placed them in a paper bag and drowned them in the ocean. “I felt like I died that night, too,” she remembers.
Between ages 12 and 14, she was sexually assaulted twice, and a boyfriend kicked her out of a moving car. She once stopped her father from assaulting her mom further by punching him.
The young brunette became known as “Blue Zone Girl” when she was spotted on a jumbotron at a football game, but she would soon be renowned worldwide by her real name, Pamela Anderson.
A beer company scouted her as a spokesmodel, leading to a Playboy shoot. A “Home Improvement” role brought her into the mainstream, but she became a superstar portraying CJ on “Baywatch.”
Her whirlwind romance with drummer Tommy Lee crescendoed into a wedding on the beach in Cancun, Mexico, in 1995, where she wore a white string bikini and he was in trunks. The couple had two children, Dylan Jagger and Brandon Thomas.
The footage they made during their honeymoon was stolen and sold as one of the first sex tapes of the internet era. The actress has never watched the tape but has felt its effects. She wrote how it “ruined lives,” starting with their relationship.
Lee was jailed for four months after he was found guilty of spousal abuse, and they divorced in 1998. She filed for full custody of the children in 2012, claiming that he was emotionally and physically abusive towards them.
Anderson has experienced a resurgence in her career. She has taken back the narrative surrounding her crafted by the media with a memoir, “Love, Pamela,” and participating in the companion Netflix documentary.
Returning to her coastal hometown of Ladysmith, Anderson found a “healing space” with its “crazy calmness.” With limited paparazzi on the island, she feels protected. She lives alone with her five dogs.
“I live a more romantic life now that I’m alone than I did in relationships,” Anderson said of the home she made in her grandparent’s old farmhouse.
The humanitarian runs through the waves on the beach adjoined to her property year-round. When not working, she keeps busy in the 15,000-square-foot vegetable and rose garden and has taken up pottery. “I’m very crafty. I didn’t realize,” she said.
In an interview with People in January 2023, she conceded that she would like to have someone to share her life but that it tended to be a case of her catering to her partner’s needs. After Lee, she wed Kid Rock and married Rick Salomon twice (one of which was annulled).
Her most recent marriage to Dan Hayhurst lasted only a few months and ended in 2021. The “V.I.P.” star has learned that she does not need a man to bring her roses:
“I’ve just planted a hundred rose bushes. I can get them any time I want — and they’re my favorite roses.”
She told Elle in August 2023 that the early morning hours were her favorite time. Anderson spends this time writing a newsletter, though she quipped she does this to distract herself from writing long, rambling emails to her sons.
Just as gardening and writing in the mornings replaced the party lifestyle she enjoyed at the height of her fame, so has her signature beauty look morphed into something else.
She was known for big blond hair, thin brows, and heavy eye makeup with tiny outfits that were, by her own account, “wild and uninhibited.” Anderson added:
“I don’t know if it was a defense mechanism or what. I just thought, ‘I’m going to have fun.’”
Over the past few years, she has been sporting a more stripped-down beauty look, sometimes looking like she is not wearing makeup. Following the death of her makeup artist, Alexis Vogel, she started taking a new approach. She explained:
“She was the best. And since then, I just felt, without Alexis, it’s just better for me not to wear makeup.”
The star might have turned her back on the signature look, but a new generation of people have rediscovered her Y2K style and #Pamcore trends frequently on TikTok.
The animal lover contends that her beauty update is “freeing, and fun, and a little rebellious too.” When she looks in the mirror, she feels “rooted for.” Pamela Anderson says she is in a good place.
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