Men's powder room?
Doreen Simmons
I thought I'd heard everything, but today one of the room
labels I'm checking is "Men's Powder Room" 男性用パウダールーム
-- and it turns out that is's quite common in spas and gyms --
all Japanese, of course!
To me, even for women, "Powder Room" sounds very old-fashioned.
Any suggestions for a universal term that can be used for both sexes and includes loo and
washbasins? (By "universal" I mean "not rest room" and "not bathroom" -- I recall an American
friend who, preparing for a student trip to France, carefully learnt what to her was
a suitable phrase -- and went all over the Louvre asking, with increasing desperation,
"Ou est la salle de bain?")
Doreen Simmons
jz8d...@asahi-net.or.jp
Fred Uleman
Would this be "universally" understood?
--
Fred Uleman, translator emeritus
Alan Siegrist
> I thought I'd heard everything, but today one of the room
> labels I'm checking is "Men's Powder Room" 男性用パウダールーム
> -- and it turns out that is's quite common in spas and gyms --
> all Japanese, of course!
>
> To me, even for women, "Powder Room" sounds very old-fashioned.
Yes, I think so too. Didn't they call it that because of the polite fiction
that the women were just going there to "powder their noses" as opposed to
anything having to do with bodily functions?
> Any suggestions for a universal term that can be used for both sexes and
> includes loo and washbasins? (By "universal" I mean "not rest room" and
> "not bathroom"
I was recently in London and was rather taken aback by the signs in the
airport and underground stations pointing to the men's or women's "Toilets."
While seeming rather frank and brash from my American perspective, this
phrase is certainly universally understood and clear.
Upon following the signs, naturally I found modern commodes complete with
washbasins (although from the signs, I had expected something much more bare
in the plumbing department).
Regards,
Alan Siegrist
Carmel, CA, USA
Kristen Jacobsen
--
Kristen Jacobsen
MBA
Marketing Communication, Japanese
www.linkedin.com/in/kristenjacobsen
Rieko Suzuki
> labels I'm checking is "Men's Powder Room" 男性用パウダールーム
> -- and it turns out that is's quite common in spas and gyms --
> all Japanese, of course!
>
> To me, even for women, "Powder Room" sounds very old-fashioned.
> Any suggestions for a universal term that can be used for both sexes and
> includes loo and
> washbasins?
Are you sure your パウダールーム "includes loo and washbasins"?
To my NJS ear, パウダールーム sounds like a space for grooming, may be
equipped with mirrors, hair dryers, lotion, cotton swabs etc., that is
separate from men's or women's room or even toilet.
I wouldn't be surprised that there is a need for such パウダールーム to be
used by "草食系男子".
Rieko Suzuki
Fred Uleman
Doreen Simmons
>Or is it a locker room type set up (which can include a toilet and sinks as
>well as showers and an area for changing)? If this is commonly found in
>spas or gyms, this is a possibility.
My thought entirely, and I've sent to find out.
Doreen
Doreen Simmons
not a spa or a gym; it's an office building, albeit a well-appointed one.
Anway, thanks everybody for the time being. I await further details, but I am already
Doreen Simmons
jz8d...@asahi-net.or.jp
Fred Uleman
the building I'm working on is not a spa or a gym; it's an office building, albeit a well-appointed one.
Michael Hendry
> This occurred to me too (and thanks Rieko). But the building I'm working
> on is
> not a spa or a gym; it's an office building, albeit a well-appointed one.
Looking at Google images, they certainly look as Rieko describes them. Don't
automatically rule out the gym-style locker rooms though, as some companies
provide shower facilities at work. If the building is well appointed, you
could expect to find shower facilities for employees to freshen up (maybe
after cycling to work). Anyway, if we can assume the 男性用パウダールーム is
a Japanese-style room like the vanity areas provided in onsen/sento, the
English "shower facilities" probably won't suffice. I'd be tempted to go
with "vanity room."
Michael Hendry, in Newcastle Australia
Masako Sato
> I thought I'd heard everything, but today one of the room
> labels I'm checking is "Men's Powder Room" 男性用パウダールーム
> -- and it turns out that is's quite common in spas and gyms --
> all Japanese, of course!
>
Masako Sato
Wayne Root
the states.
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Wayne Root
roo...@astound.net
Scott Mason
In the United States, "powder room" is an industry standard term for a
room that contains a toilet and washbasin. The unisex version can be
found in residences.
To my ear, in this day and age, rather than old-fashioned, it sounds
rather gentrified, at least in a residence.
Scott
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Alan Siegrist
> This occurred to me too (and thanks Rieko). But the building I'm working
> on is not a spa or a gym; it's an office building, albeit a well-appointed
> one.
In that case (an office building), I believe the common term is "washroom"
at least in the US. There is certainly cachet to being given the legendary
"key to the executive washroom."
Naturally, these "washrooms" have wash basins but also toilet stalls.
I think a newly minted executive might wonder what is going on if he were
given the key to the "powder room."
Frode Aleksandersen
On Mar 26, 2:29 pm, "Michael Hendry" <li...@letstalktranslations.com>
wrote:
> Anyway, if we can assume the 男性用パウダールーム is
> a Japanese-style room like the vanity areas provided in onsen/sento, the
> English "shower facilities" probably won't suffice. I'd be tempted to go
> with "vanity room."
On a related note, I just recently saw a sign in Tokyo for
"vanitorium" for toilet/washing facilities. It's definitely not a
choice I'd go with, and I was more amused than anything else at seeing
it.
/frode