Is 'pass water' still used to mean 'urinate'?

Forums: Vocabulary, Grammar, Esl, English
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In my childhood days, we said 'pass water' to mean 'urinate'. Do native speakers still use this term?

Thanks.

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Type: Question • Score: 13 • Views: 2,032 • Replies: 41

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Now I hardly find anyone using this term!

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@tanguatlay,

Today usu "pee"

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The correct term for pass water would in modern language would be urinate.

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@tanguatlay,

I don't think I've heard that used in over 50 years.

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@ehBeth,

About the same here. Very rare, but well understood.

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@roger,

Understood by people over 50. I'm pretty sure I'd get blank stares from the people sitting around me.

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as a non native speaker I would understand it just the opposite.
Someone who cannot say a full sentence and shortens things.
Pass water = Please pass the water
Just like please pass the butter,

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@saab,

Quote:

as a non native speaker I would understand it just the opposite.

The verb 'pass' can have the meaning of expel waste from the body; it is a little formal and is often used in medical situations. Tp "pass wind" is to fart.

Pass (verb) 8th of 9 meanings
Oxford Dictionaries

Quote:

8 [with object] Discharge (something, especially urine or faeces) from the body: she may have difficulty in passing urine

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/pass

Cambridge Dictionaries

Quote:

"pass water" in British English
polite expression for urinate

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pass-water

Funny notice allegedly seen either in shabby British restaurant, or foreign restaurant:

All water served in this establishment has been passed by the management

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@Tes yeux noirs,

Problems:
A Swedish lady I know had just arrived in New York to visit the city for a few days. She was sitting in the lobby when an American lady came over and asked her "Excuse me, where are the rest rooms?" The Swedish lady understood was rest, resting means but had never heard rest rooms so she politely answered "I do not think there are any restrooms here, but just sit down on any of the chairs here"

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A favourite is the American "bathroom". In Britain, a bathroom does not automatically mean a room with a toilet (that room is called a 'toilet' or 'lavatory'). This can lead to misunderstandings.

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starting at 1:13, Australians talking about washrooms/bathrooms/restrooms/toilets

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mark

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@Tes yeux noirs,

I ran into that in Germany. I specifically asked for a room with bath. I just assumed there would be a toilet. This was in the late '60s, so maybe things have changed.

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@roger,

Anyone saying that today would have to be at least 80 years old, I suspect from any country that ever used that term. Its actually kinda fun to remember it as a "normal" term in its day.

Whats funny though? I am 45 now and I hear young actresses go on The Colbert Show and start telling a story about how, "I needed to pee so I...." And I catch myself thinking, "Wow, you couldnt say you had to use the bathroom?" Even my "accepted" terms are outdated....I laugh at myself! Lol!

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@Lilkanyon,

I am continuously surprised at the way people use the word pee. Men do not pee. We piss.

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@roger,

roger wrote:

I am continuously surprised at the way people use the word pee. Men do not pee. We piss.

Yall also stain tires yellow! We stain socks...eww...peepee!

1 Reply

@Lilkanyon,

As a woman I am pissed off and not peed off when mad - correct?

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@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

I don't think I've heard that used in over 50 years.

Common in hospitals

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@Tes yeux noirs,

I always used the phrase 'pay a call.' Then one of my work colleagues asked me why I wasn't using the phone on my desk.

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Is 'pass water' still used to mean 'urinate'?

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