I've always been confused by the terms washroom, restroom, bathroom, lavatory, toilet and toilet room. My impression is that Canadians would rather say washroom while Americans would probably say
FWIW, for toilets in public establishments, "washroom" is more of a Canadian term; Americans would say "restroom." "Bathroom" is for private homes.
politeness - British term for 'washroom'? - English Language & Usage ...
"Washroom" may be the most widespread euphemism that does not have the possibly misleading connotations that "bathroom" and "restroom" have. In the US, I have only heard the term " latrine " used in military TV shows or by ex-military co-workers.
In a public washroom, multiple toilets are separated into stalls for privacy. In the United Kingdom the bake sale is known as a cake stall. a high-backed booth at a restaurant
It's sufficient to say you need to " use the washroom " (or bathroom, or restroom). The latter three nouns are more-or-less equivalent in some situations and regions and less so in others, so adapt to whatever is common where you are. That said, I've seen people excuse themselves from long meetings saying that it was a for a "pee break".
Furthermore, "washroom" is synonymous with "bathroom", so we're back to not having a name to describe a room for only bathing and washing hands (and sometimes laundry).
The irony is that both toilet and lavatory are already euphemisms, they both actually mean washroom! So the Americans now use a euphemism to hide the "vulgar" use of another euphemism. It's like "ass" which is an animal related to the horse, domestic varieties of which are called donkeys.