’eau de toilette,’ mais ce ne sent pas comme toilette | French - Learn French in a friendly community! | Page 1

eternal cedarBOT Jun 17, 2025, 5:23 AM

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’eau de toilette,’ mais ce ne sent pas comme toilette

limber stratus Jun 17, 2025, 5:26 AM

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Wait. Do french bathrooms have scented toilet water? Bc like france is stereotypically bougie as it is but that's a little too far

thin valley Jun 17, 2025, 5:28 AM

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what are you talking about lol

limber stratus Jun 17, 2025, 5:29 AM

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Strong perfumes are called eau de toilette in america. Eau de toilette translates to toilet water

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It seems very contradictory and I'm wondering why it's like that

subtle beacon Jun 17, 2025, 5:34 AM

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toilette is different from toilettes

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altho they are pronounced the same 💀

limber stratus Jun 17, 2025, 5:36 AM

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That is possibly the worst set of words to have sound the exact same and look so similar

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Why

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How am I supposed to absolutely butcher a language when I can't purposely use words incorrectly????

thin valley Jun 17, 2025, 5:43 AM

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you know how we say bathroom or restroom or lavatory to avoid saying toilet or urinal

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well guess what, those words began as euphemisms too

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and just like bath still refers to bathing

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toilette in french still refers washing

kind socket Jun 17, 2025, 6:02 AM

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Right, ‘washing’ or ‘grooming’. For example, ‘to have a wash’ is translated as « faire sa toilette »

real nova Jun 17, 2025, 6:19 AM

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You also refer to certain products as 'toiletries' even when they don't go into your toilet.

thin valley Jun 17, 2025, 6:20 AM

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speak for yourself!

real nova Jun 17, 2025, 6:20 AM

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*even when they only go into fquel's toilet.

fresh sinew Jun 17, 2025, 6:21 AM

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interestingly, all of these definitions come before "toilets"

thin valley Jun 17, 2025, 6:21 AM

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i think it's because it's in the singular

fresh sinew Jun 17, 2025, 6:22 AM

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ye probably

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actually toilettes only gives MORE things before toilet

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thin valley Jun 17, 2025, 6:23 AM

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but it's still displaying the singular term

fresh sinew Jun 17, 2025, 6:23 AM

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yeah

thin valley Jun 17, 2025, 6:23 AM

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scroll down and there's definitions for toilettes plural

fresh sinew Jun 17, 2025, 6:23 AM

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ye

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that was my point

thin valley Jun 17, 2025, 6:24 AM

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oh

fresh sinew Jun 17, 2025, 6:24 AM

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I get what you mean though

thin valley Jun 17, 2025, 6:24 AM

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i think it's just that wordreference doesn't have seperate entries for singular and plural, even though in this case there is a difference in meaning more or less

fresh sinew Jun 17, 2025, 6:24 AM

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yea

lofty current Jun 17, 2025, 6:46 AM

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note that while generally in France using the plural refers specifically to the place where you relieve yourself, that's not the only way it works in Francophone counties/regions

it's my understanding that in Belgium they say "aller à la toilette" (although close contact with France probably means that that usage isn't 100%)

However, in France the plural is used almost exclusively to the point that my in-laws, when speaking specifically about the porcelain device with a flush, refer to it as "le toilette" generally – they practically never hear it used in the singular so just defaulted to masculine

#’eau de toilette,’ mais ce ne sent pas comme toilette