People are only now realizing what the initials “WC” on a toilet sign stand for. In the United States, there are many terms used to describe public bathrooms. Some call it the lavatory, some the throne, and still others just the restroom.The majority of public restrooms are identified with a “WC” sign; yet, no one seems to grasp what this means. Now that we know, however.
The internet is a treasure trove of obscure but curiously interesting information. Spending a lot of time online teaches you new things every day, whether it’s the hidden applications for shopping cart hooks, the meaning behind M&Ms’ initials, or how to use the fourth side of a cheesegrater.However, a recent finding about bathrooms has the internet perplexed.
A person writes: “I’m glad someone asked because I’ve been wondering this for years but never googled it.” Someone another shares, “I can’t believe I’ve been living with a WC sign and had no idea why it was called WC.” “I was 23 when I learned,” someone else says. A fourth participant responds: “I know, but don’t use it (don’t use the word—do use the WC).”
Others, however, are surprised that people have gone their entire lives without knowing what ‘WC’ stands for. A second individual asks, “What?!” “Who does not know this?” “Surely everyone knows what ‘WC’ stands for?” asks a third. When you break it down, the true meaning of “WC” becomes clear. The name derives from the history of toilets. When households began to install indoor plumbing, many people transformed their clothes closets into small restrooms.
The house only had flowing water in a couple of these spots. Many people now refer to the chamber that houses the toilet as the bathroom. However, historically, a bathroom was a room containing a bathtub that was completely separate from the toilet. In a now-deleted TikTok, @itsnathannyc explains: “Before indoor plumbing, we actually had a bathtub room, a bathroom. But the spout was outside. You had to bring water in with a bucket, heat it, then pour it into the bathtub.”
“When indoor plumbing comes along, and there is already a room with a bathtub, the bathroom, where do you put the toilet? Just put it in a closet; it’s the most convenient spot to put a toilet.” They later gained the term “water closets” because they were one of the few places in the house with running water.
“To begin, WC is an abbreviation for ‘water closet’, a term used in the 1900s to describe a toilet because most were installed in a spare closet or cupboard. According to Plumb World, the term WC has come to replace the term bathroom to designate a room with a toilet but no bath. The TikTok user then explains that the term WC stands for “water closet.”