Briticisms

[Sarah]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Ladi lyndi <ladilyndi at y...> 
wrote:
> Joe Bento  wrote:
> Loo, can, john, c*apper, w.c. - I think the meaning is clearly 
> understood either side of the pond.  :-)
> Rod McFadden wrote:
> I'm still a bit chuffed that Scholastic substituted "Bathroom" 
> for 'Loo'.  If JKR can teach three hundred million Americans to 
> pronounced "Hermione", she should have no problem adding 'Loo' to 
> American English!
> > Rod
Lynn:
Don't forget cloakroom which apparently is a toilet on the ground 
floor or, as Americans would say, a half bath.
>  
> Also, I thought chuffed meant happy about something.  The way it's 
used here appears that it isn't a positive thing or am I just reading 
the rest of the sentence wrong?

We use bathroom to describe a room with the bath in (duh!) and the 
toilet for the room with the toilet in.  If you have both in one room 
then it could be called either.  (Because we are IN the toilet - 
meaning the room, not the actual bowl!).  A cloakroom tends to be the 
downstairs loo, with just usually a small sink.  And yes, 'chuffed' 
is a positive word - to be pleased with.  To be 'chuffed to bits' is 
to be absolutely thrilled with something.  Now as I write it, it 
sounds so daft - but hey, that's the English language for you!

Sarah xx