Showing posts with label angloamerican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label angloamerican. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Engaged/Occupied


A random difference between British and American culture is, I noticed for the first time today, the participle used to describe a loo when someone is in it. Engaged for the Brit, but merely occupied for the American. Paradoxically, the euphemism which I imagine originally occured to distance oneself from talking about using the toilet, now seems to imply the possibility of alternative uses!