Toilet Signs around the world
March 28, 2008 10:47 AM Subscribe
Toilet Signs from around the world... 59 of them. Number 22 struck me as particularly funny
That's an askme question. Does holding your knees together keep the poop from coming out?
posted by Xurando at 10:56 AM on March 28, 2008
posted by Xurando at 10:56 AM on March 28, 2008
Wow! The world is flush with ideas.
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 10:57 AM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 10:57 AM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
I once got in big trouble for going into the wrong bathroom at a restaurant once. In my defense, how was I supposed to recognize the Thai word for "kitchen"?
posted by Someone has just shot your horse! at 11:03 AM on March 28, 2008
posted by Someone has just shot your horse! at 11:03 AM on March 28, 2008
(Erm, strike one "once". Your choice of which.)
posted by Someone has just shot your horse! at 11:03 AM on March 28, 2008
posted by Someone has just shot your horse! at 11:03 AM on March 28, 2008
Awesome.
I should snap a picture from a local (gay)bar here in Madrid where the toilets are represented by very rough stick figure shapes similar to #31, but the only distinguishing feature is that the woman gets two dots for breasts/nipples.
posted by slimepuppy at 11:07 AM on March 28, 2008
I should snap a picture from a local (gay)bar here in Madrid where the toilets are represented by very rough stick figure shapes similar to #31, but the only distinguishing feature is that the woman gets two dots for breasts/nipples.
posted by slimepuppy at 11:07 AM on March 28, 2008
No, thanks. I'm continent.
posted by Balisong at 11:10 AM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Balisong at 11:10 AM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
41 is good
posted by fire&wings at 11:19 AM on March 28, 2008
posted by fire&wings at 11:19 AM on March 28, 2008
My favorite bathroom signs: Hotdog for men's room, Taco for the Ladies.
posted by isopraxis at 11:21 AM on March 28, 2008
posted by isopraxis at 11:21 AM on March 28, 2008
I love that one from the Science Fiction Museum.
posted by porpoise at 11:27 AM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by porpoise at 11:27 AM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
#20 is from LegoLand. Here is my pic of a LegoLand San Diego restroom sign.
posted by neilkod at 11:28 AM on March 28, 2008
posted by neilkod at 11:28 AM on March 28, 2008
Man if I were ever seized with the need in that #25 restaurant, they'd have to call for a clean-up in the hallway outside the bathroom doors!
As a PS... I had a nasty experience a bazillion years ago as a Canadian air force brat in Germany in a restuarant when I assumed because "HERREN" had "HER" in it and "DAMEN" had "MEN" in it... well, the rest is pistory.
posted by Mike D at 11:30 AM on March 28, 2008
As a PS... I had a nasty experience a bazillion years ago as a Canadian air force brat in Germany in a restuarant when I assumed because "HERREN" had "HER" in it and "DAMEN" had "MEN" in it... well, the rest is pistory.
posted by Mike D at 11:30 AM on March 28, 2008
Oh great, yet another thing they do more stylishly in Paris.
posted by Kattullus at 11:43 AM on March 28, 2008
posted by Kattullus at 11:43 AM on March 28, 2008
Where’s Costanza when you need him?
posted by Smedleyman at 11:46 AM on March 28, 2008
posted by Smedleyman at 11:46 AM on March 28, 2008
#37 (Pizza) wins.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:58 AM on March 28, 2008
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:58 AM on March 28, 2008
If one door is labeled Roosters or Cockerels or Cocks, the other should be labeled Hens or Pullets or [another rude word beginning with C] -- not Chicks.
If one door is, however, labeled Chicks, the other ought to be labeled Dudes.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:07 PM on March 28, 2008
If one door is, however, labeled Chicks, the other ought to be labeled Dudes.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:07 PM on March 28, 2008
I once went to a restaurant in Chile that had bathrooms only distinguished by a picture of the sun or of the moon. I assume I was a moon because "la luna" is feminine, but I still wonder...
posted by fermezporte at 12:10 PM on March 28, 2008
posted by fermezporte at 12:10 PM on March 28, 2008
Thank God the Equal Rights Amendment wasn't ratified , or we would only have one sign!!
posted by Tube at 12:17 PM on March 28, 2008
posted by Tube at 12:17 PM on March 28, 2008
The restrooms at the Amsterdam Bar and Grill in Donald Westlake's Dortmunder books (which you all must read) are differentiated by pointers and setters.
Astonishing how many people don't get that joke.
posted by IndigoJones at 12:18 PM on March 28, 2008
Astonishing how many people don't get that joke.
posted by IndigoJones at 12:18 PM on March 28, 2008
fermezporte, I've seen the same here in Spain.
posted by slimepuppy at 12:19 PM on March 28, 2008
posted by slimepuppy at 12:19 PM on March 28, 2008
Ah Baltimore.
"I gunna go to da turlit and wrench this ull off ma hands before we go Downy Ocean, hon."
posted by extraheavymarcellus at 12:20 PM on March 28, 2008
"I gunna go to da turlit and wrench this ull off ma hands before we go Downy Ocean, hon."
posted by extraheavymarcellus at 12:20 PM on March 28, 2008
I love #41. Classic.
I'm kind of sad, though, that the bathrooms from my old yaght club weren't featured. The loos had "inboards" and "outboards" printed on the doors. boo :(
posted by Planet F at 12:39 PM on March 28, 2008
I'm kind of sad, though, that the bathrooms from my old yaght club weren't featured. The loos had "inboards" and "outboards" printed on the doors. boo :(
posted by Planet F at 12:39 PM on March 28, 2008
Most of these make more sense than quarter-moons and stars. You'd think the Sci-Fi Museum's toilets would've featured them?
posted by jabberjaw at 12:45 PM on March 28, 2008
posted by jabberjaw at 12:45 PM on March 28, 2008
At my old restaurant, the men's and woman's bathroom had the opposite sex painted on the other side of the door. There were a lot of confused faces coming out of the bathroom wondering how they ended up in the wrong bathroom.
posted by jmd82 at 1:14 PM on March 28, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by jmd82 at 1:14 PM on March 28, 2008 [2 favorites]
Does holding your knees together keep the poop from coming out?
No. But that's obviously the universal symbol for "I HAVE TO PEE!" May be supplemented with hopping in place and/or whining.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 1:17 PM on March 28, 2008
No. But that's obviously the universal symbol for "I HAVE TO PEE!" May be supplemented with hopping in place and/or whining.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 1:17 PM on March 28, 2008
There's a chain Mexican restaurant NW of Phoenix, in one of the many many many strip malls, where the signs on the bathroom are labeled in Spanish to make it authentic-looking... only both the signs have spelling errors. You figure, in Phoenix of all places, that they'd get it right.
posted by not_on_display at 1:42 PM on March 28, 2008
posted by not_on_display at 1:42 PM on March 28, 2008
ZaneJ: Weird, looking at those made me have to take a shit.
Don't take any of mine... the weekend's coming up and I only have two left.
posted by not_on_display at 1:45 PM on March 28, 2008 [3 favorites]
Don't take any of mine... the weekend's coming up and I only have two left.
posted by not_on_display at 1:45 PM on March 28, 2008 [3 favorites]
At my old restaurant, the men's and woman's bathroom had the opposite sex painted on the other side of the door
One of the pubs near my parents' house used to have a waxwork of a man at a urinal just inside the door to the ladies' toilet. Even when you knew it was there it'd give you a start. Many an evening I passed watching woman after woman run out of the room, double-check the sign, look in again, triple-check the sign, etc.
posted by jamesonandwater at 1:58 PM on March 28, 2008
One of the pubs near my parents' house used to have a waxwork of a man at a urinal just inside the door to the ladies' toilet. Even when you knew it was there it'd give you a start. Many an evening I passed watching woman after woman run out of the room, double-check the sign, look in again, triple-check the sign, etc.
posted by jamesonandwater at 1:58 PM on March 28, 2008
Raphael Carter's sadly defunct website had a good bit about renaming the bathrooms at sci-fi cons. Looks like archive.org still has it.
Also, #16 is weirdly ambiguous. Is the triangle with the wide end high and forwards supposed to represent tits, broad shoulders, or a shirt? Is the one with the wide end low and forwards supposed to represent a dick, broad hips, or a dress? And what's #31, a special bathroom for people with no arms?
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:01 PM on March 28, 2008
Also, #16 is weirdly ambiguous. Is the triangle with the wide end high and forwards supposed to represent tits, broad shoulders, or a shirt? Is the one with the wide end low and forwards supposed to represent a dick, broad hips, or a dress? And what's #31, a special bathroom for people with no arms?
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:01 PM on March 28, 2008
There was a time when I wanted to own a restaurant that specialized in sandwiches, which would also serve as a venue for local stand up and improvisational comedy. This is one of those many myriad fantasies that a young person allows oneself before they grow old and wrinkled and realize just how expensive and complicated fantasies actually are when they become reality.
I'd love to have my own sandwich shop and comedy club, but I learned early on I didn't want to actually do any of the things necessary in order to obtain such a thing. Acquiring a liquor license for example. The red tape for that alone would be enough to make one throw up a little in their mouth.
However, had I actually set forth to accomplish such a noble task, one of the requirements for the design of the place was going to be three fully functional and working rest rooms. One for men, one for women, one for other, and the signs would reflect that distinction, with a caveat on the third sign in fine print saying that anyone who is a male or a female enters the third restroom at their own risk. Of course, the red tape necessary for acquiring three restrooms is probably also enough to make one throw up a little in their mouth.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:39 PM on March 28, 2008
I'd love to have my own sandwich shop and comedy club, but I learned early on I didn't want to actually do any of the things necessary in order to obtain such a thing. Acquiring a liquor license for example. The red tape for that alone would be enough to make one throw up a little in their mouth.
However, had I actually set forth to accomplish such a noble task, one of the requirements for the design of the place was going to be three fully functional and working rest rooms. One for men, one for women, one for other, and the signs would reflect that distinction, with a caveat on the third sign in fine print saying that anyone who is a male or a female enters the third restroom at their own risk. Of course, the red tape necessary for acquiring three restrooms is probably also enough to make one throw up a little in their mouth.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:39 PM on March 28, 2008
Yes, I was actually surprised that there were no transgender or intersex friendly signs there. Or perhaps that was what the sci-fi one was?
posted by Maias at 2:50 PM on March 28, 2008
posted by Maias at 2:50 PM on March 28, 2008
At my old restaurant, the men's and woman's bathroom had the opposite sex painted on the other side of the door
The Safehouse in Milwaukee does this as well. It's a lot of fun; watching drunks have that moment of panic as the try to reconcile the fact that to leave the bathroom, they have to go through a door that suggest that it leads into the ladies room.
posted by quin at 2:56 PM on March 28, 2008
The Safehouse in Milwaukee does this as well. It's a lot of fun; watching drunks have that moment of panic as the try to reconcile the fact that to leave the bathroom, they have to go through a door that suggest that it leads into the ladies room.
posted by quin at 2:56 PM on March 28, 2008
#37, the pizza place, is hilarious, mostly because it appears quite innocuous.
I also like the number of them that end up somewhat... anatomically-correct.
posted by fogster at 3:18 PM on March 28, 2008
I also like the number of them that end up somewhat... anatomically-correct.
posted by fogster at 3:18 PM on March 28, 2008
The one in my old university had a moustache for men's, and either a pair of red lips or high heels (forgot which) for ladies.
posted by divabat at 3:23 PM on March 28, 2008
posted by divabat at 3:23 PM on March 28, 2008
Restroom signage is a serious issue. I have a very traumatic memory from my early youth when my family went to dinner at a restaurant specializing in fried chicken. When I went to visit the facilities, I was confronted with doors labelled, obviously enough, "Roosters" and "Hens". And my six year old mind had not the slightest clue which one I was.
My horrible trauma did NOT come from blundering into the wrong bathroom and being thereby embarassed. No, my calm and calculating little head led me back out into the restaurant - doing that peepee dance so many of these signs portray - and yelling out to my family "Am I a Rooster or a Hen?" Bad enough were the chuckles from the assorted patrons. Far far worse was the fact that my older brother was there, along with his best friend, and I had just handed them a big fat baseball bat of teasing to whallop me with. You can imagine the ensuing years, I expect. I know I can't forget them.
posted by John Smallberries at 4:24 PM on March 28, 2008 [5 favorites]
My horrible trauma did NOT come from blundering into the wrong bathroom and being thereby embarassed. No, my calm and calculating little head led me back out into the restaurant - doing that peepee dance so many of these signs portray - and yelling out to my family "Am I a Rooster or a Hen?" Bad enough were the chuckles from the assorted patrons. Far far worse was the fact that my older brother was there, along with his best friend, and I had just handed them a big fat baseball bat of teasing to whallop me with. You can imagine the ensuing years, I expect. I know I can't forget them.
posted by John Smallberries at 4:24 PM on March 28, 2008 [5 favorites]
Oh no! #21, from the Science Fiction museum, is straight up wrong! In the ZW sex determination system, the heterogametic sex is female!
Seattle mefites, let's make storming the science fiction museum and correcting the sign part of this weekends meetup, what do you say?
posted by emyd at 5:06 PM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
Seattle mefites, let's make storming the science fiction museum and correcting the sign part of this weekends meetup, what do you say?
posted by emyd at 5:06 PM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
I was just at an office last night that had number 41 as a toilet sign, and it greatly amused me.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 6:42 PM on March 28, 2008
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 6:42 PM on March 28, 2008
If one door is labeled Roosters or Cockerels or Cocks, the other should be labeled Hens or Pullets or [another rude word beginning with C] -- not Chicks.
Nah, if one has a picture of a rooster, the other should have a picture of a cat...
posted by mdn at 7:23 PM on March 28, 2008
Nah, if one has a picture of a rooster, the other should have a picture of a cat...
posted by mdn at 7:23 PM on March 28, 2008
Years ago I heard rumors of a bar or restaurant, somewhere in California, I want to say Santa Cruz, that had restrooms labeled "Us" and "Them".
posted by otherthings_ at 10:57 PM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by otherthings_ at 10:57 PM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
(...) and I had just handed them a big fat baseball bat of teasing to whallop me with.
posted by John Smallberries at 4:24 PM on March 28
Oh, but you so set yourself up for these things! Batter up!
posted by Zack_Replica at 11:26 PM on March 28, 2008
posted by John Smallberries at 4:24 PM on March 28
Oh, but you so set yourself up for these things! Batter up!
posted by Zack_Replica at 11:26 PM on March 28, 2008
I once went to a restaurant in Chile that had bathrooms only distinguished by a picture of the sun or of the moon. I assume I was a moon because "la luna" is feminine, but I still wonder...
posted by fermezporte at
It's Catholic imagery from St Francis of Assisi, made popular in the USA through Zeferelli's movie.
posted by Wilder at 2:36 AM on March 29, 2008
posted by fermezporte at
It's Catholic imagery from St Francis of Assisi, made popular in the USA through Zeferelli's movie.
posted by Wilder at 2:36 AM on March 29, 2008
The one with the flame and the wave.. Which is one is what? I really don't know.
posted by Catfry at 4:37 AM on March 29, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Catfry at 4:37 AM on March 29, 2008 [1 favorite]
At Hot Doug's in Chicago, the sign for men is a hotdog in a bun and the sign for women is an empty bun. Uh huh.
posted by ifjuly at 12:17 PM on March 29, 2008
posted by ifjuly at 12:17 PM on March 29, 2008
I honestly think the pizza one is the clearest, most portable method of differentiating gender in bathrooms I've ever seen.
Honestly? Instead of blue-stick-figure and pink-stick-figure-in-dress, why not a picture of a penis and a picture of a vagina?
posted by tehloki at 3:15 PM on March 29, 2008
Honestly? Instead of blue-stick-figure and pink-stick-figure-in-dress, why not a picture of a penis and a picture of a vagina?
posted by tehloki at 3:15 PM on March 29, 2008
#31 is the one that makes the least sense to me. I assume six-line-person is female, but I can't really supply any logical reason why. Maybe the middle set of lines is a skirt? I just don't know.
Also, as "clear and portable" pizza glyphs might be, I won't begrudge the classic stick figures when it comes to the split-second decisions sometimes necessary when determining the proper place for your bathroom emergency.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 10:04 PM on March 29, 2008
Also, as "clear and portable" pizza glyphs might be, I won't begrudge the classic stick figures when it comes to the split-second decisions sometimes necessary when determining the proper place for your bathroom emergency.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 10:04 PM on March 29, 2008
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posted by bookwo3107 at 10:52 AM on March 28, 2008