"going to the bathroom" / "going to bed" + special request for native BrE speakers
Learning an L2 as an adult and speaking with people learning your L1 can give you a whole different perspective on the language you took for granted your whole life...and sometimes, you discover things you thought were part of the US-American standard aren't, e.g. "to crack the window" meaning to open it a little bit, which a former linguistics teacher of mine has informed me belongs to the southern variety of American English (how true that really is, I don't know, but she [mid 30s, NY state, US] had never heard it before she came to Virginia, US). [EDIT: Several comments indicate that this example is not true]
So, because several advanced English learners I know have called B.S. on me and I am now fraught with uncertainty, I would like to ask you:
Thanks!
So, because several advanced English learners I know have called B.S. on me and I am now fraught with uncertainty, I would like to ask you:
- Is it possible to go to the bathroom in the woods where there is no toilet to be found?
- Can you go to bed when you've already been lying in bed and talking with a friend for the past hour?
- How old are you and where are you from?
- Yes, it is a euphemistic way of saying "to relieve oneself" (another euphemism, oops).
- Yes, "to go to bed" means to fall asleep, or at least to try to.
- 24, northern Virginia, USA, now living in Germany.
Thanks!
