W H E N Y O U G O T T A G O
Excuse me... |
When you need to find a bathroom, you don't want to waste
time trying to get your point across. If you learn just one phrase
before traveling abroad, this is the one. (Rough guides to pronunciation
are provided where available)
| Language |
Translation |
Signs/symbols |
English
(USA) |
Excuse me, where is the bathroom? |
Restroom
Men
Women |
Irish
(Ireland)
|
Ca bhfuil an leithreas?
[caw will on le-h-rus] |
Leithreas (Toilet)
Fir (Men)
Mna (Women)
|
Portuguese
(Brazil) |
Com licença, onde fica o banheiro?
[Com lee-sens-uh. On-jee fee-kuh oo ban-yay-doo?] |
You see different signs; sanitorio
is common. |
Portuguese
(Portugal) |
Desculpe, onde fica o quarto de banho?
[Dascoolpe, onde feeca u quArtu de
baanu?] |
The standard symbols, plus "Homens" or "H" for men, and "Senhoras",
"Mulheres" or "S" for ladies.
|
Spanish
(Venezuela,
Chile) |
Por favor, donde queda el baño?
[Por favOR, DOHNdeh kedah el banyo] |
Sanitarios
[sahnitAHrios]
Caballeros
[cabayAYros]
Damas
[dAHmas] |
Esperanto
(planned language
specifically intended for international/intercultural
use) |
Pardonpetas, kie estas la necesejo?
[PardonPAYtas, KEE-eh EStas la netsessEYo?]
Another very useful phrase:
"Do you speak Esperanto?"
Cxu vi parolas Esperanton?
[Choo vee parOHLas EsperANTon?]
|
Necesejo
[NetsessEYo]
Viroj/Sinjoroj
[ VEEroy / SeenYORoy]
Virinoj/Sinjorinoj
[ VeerEENoj / SeenyorEENoy] |
French
(France)
|
Excusez-moi, Où sont les
toilettes?
[eks-u(long u)-zay mwa oo sawh lay twa-let'] |
Toilettes
[twa-let']
Hommes
[ohm]
Femmes
[fam] |
Italian
(Italy) |
Mi scusi, dove' il bagno?
[mee SKOOzee, dohvey eel banyo]
or
La toilette, per favore?
[La twaLET, per fahVOHRay] |
Look for the stick figures
|
Dutch
(Netherlands,
Belgium) |
Pardon. Waar is de W.C.?
[par-dohn var is de vay say] |
W.C.
[vay say]
Mannen (pl); Man (sing.)
[mon] [monen]
Vrouwen (plural); Vrouw (sing.)
[frau] [frauen]
|
Norwegian
(Norway) |
Unnskyld, kan du si meg hvor toalettet er?
[Unnshyll, kan du ssi mej hvor toalette er?] |
Toaletter or Toalett or W.C.
Menn or Herrer, usually a sign of a man on door
Damer or Kvinner, usually a sign of a woman on door
|
Swedish
(Sweden)
|
Ursäkta mig, men var finns toaletterna? |
either
WC
or
Dam / Herr |
Bahasa Indonesia
(Indonesia) |
Maaf, di mana ada kamar kecil?
[ma-af, dee mah-na ah-da kah-maar key-chil?] |
kamar kecil = (little room, room for '2 businesses'),
compared to kamar mandi (literally bathroom, a
room for taking a bath)
Pria for Men and Wanita for Women
|
Bahasa Melayu
(Peninsular Malaysia) |
Maafkan saya, di manakah tandas?
|
Lelaki (Man)
Perempuan (Woman) |
Greek
(Greece) |
Parakalo, pou ine i tualetta?
|
|
Czech
|
Prosim Vas, Kde jsou toalety?
|
|
Turkish
Turkey |
Pardon, tuvalet ne tarafta acaba? (casual)
Afedersiniz, lavabo nerede? (politest) |
WC
|
Japanese
(Japan) |
 |
Arabic
(Middle
East, north Africa, other Muslim countries) |
Pronouncation:
Excuse me, where is the restroom? [ein ahmer-hathe min
fathe-lick]
Restroom [ahmer-hathe]
Men [ree-jel]
Women [nee-seh-eh] |
Russian
(Russia,
other republics of the former USSR) |
 |
Polish
(Poland)
Also large population of speakers in United States |
 |
Hebrew
(Israel) |
sleecha, eypho ha-sheeruteem [transliteration] |
Shairutim |
German
(Germany,
Austria) |
Koennen Sie mir bitte sagen, wo die Toiletten sind?
And remember to say "thank you",
Danke |
Look for WC
in
Austria, Toiletten
or OO in
Germany or Austria.
Herren
Damen |
| American
sign language, ASL (USA) |
If person being questioned doesn't
know ASL...
use combination of facial expressions and body movements.
Look confused (knit your brow, shrug shoulders, glance around the room).
Convey the word "bathroom" in a socially acceptable manner (pretend to
wash hands, cross legs and rock back and forth like a child would).
If the person being questioned
knows ASL...
Formal sign for "where": point your dominant index finger
up in air, move wrist left to right
Formal sign for bathroom: make fist with your dominant
hand, put thumb between first 2 fingers, palm faces out, shake hand in
air |
See listing for English signs
(in the USA). |
| Klingon |
NuqDaq' oh' puccpa' 'e'?
|
|
| Morse code |
. -..- -.-. ..- ... . / -- . --..-- /
.-- .... . .-. . / .. ... / - .... . / -... .- - .... .-. ---
--- -- ..--..
|
.-. . ... - .-. --- --- --
-- . -.
.-- --- -- . -. |
| Semaphore flags |
 ATTENTION
     
W H E R E
    
B A T H R O O M |
|
| Maritime signal flags |
 |
|
| Nato phonetic |
Whiskey Hotel Echo Romeo Echo
Bravo Alpha Tango Hotel Romeo Oscar Oscar Mike |
Romeo Echo Sierra Tango Romeo Oscar Oscar Mike |
Thanks to: Synnovc Alves, Emma Herity, Allen Trapp, John Arundel,
Michele Hoover, Sonia Offord, Rossella Cordone, Maura Savas, Sharon Miller,
Steven Rueben, Mindy Roggerman, Lisa Louis, Hitoshi Shigeta, Janoslov Boulstov,
Leane Reelfs, Arthur Poznanski, Angela Mann, Saskia Dinh, Razika Niboucha, Katie D., Chrissy Lazarakou, Ian Kelosky, Pedro Neves, Ihwan Junaidi, Malin Kvam, Gokhan Ozar, Ahmad Tarmizi
Note: CultureBridge does not guarantee the accuracy of these translations. Use at your own discretion.
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