Have you ever seen the letters WC outside a public bathroom and wondered what they mean? You’re not alone. The term refers to a “water closet”—a room containing a toilet and often a sink.
In 2020, a TikTok couple, Shelby and Dylan, went viral for joking about the confusing names for these spaces. “What are they washing in a washroom?” Dylan asked. “The only thing I wash in there is my hands.” Shelby replied, “Do you rest in a restroom?” prompting him to admit, “They both don’t make much sense.”
Commenters chimed in, debating terms like bathroom, restroom, washroom, and toilet. One joked about being sent to a laundromat after asking for a “washroom,” while another quipped, “Wait till he finds out about water closets.”
According to Merriam-Webster, a water closet is “a compartment or room with a toilet.” Historically, bathrooms were for bathing, restrooms for resting or grooming, and water closets specifically for toilets. Depending on where you live, the same space might be called a loo, lavatory, washroom, or WC.
Before the 19th century, indoor toilets were rare, and people used outhouses. By 1890, water closets became common, separating toilets from bathing areas. In the 20th century, both were combined into one room for convenience.
Today, WC remains a universal sign found in airports, restaurants, and hotels—essentially another way of saying bathroom or restroom. Online, people still debate its meaning. One Redditor joked, “Why call it a WC if it isn’t even a closet?” while others noted linguistic twists like the Russian “room without windows” or Esperanto’s “necesejo,” meaning “necessary place.”
Canadians tend to say washroom, Midwesterners use it too, but most North Americans stick to bathroom or restroom. As one commenter summed it up: “Washroom makes the most sense—you should be washing in there, not resting.”