@Foldor13 @mars I know HO is for homeowner, but its spelled the same, sounds the same, and it could be misinterpreted.
I’m done talking about HOs, hos and hoes. It’s my special day! 
It’s noon where I’m at, so I’ve just started celebrating. So far, 2 cupcakes and a latte. Yum!!
That’s high tea.
I’m Canadian by birth and have lived in the US half my life. I’ have always referred to the ground floor as first floor, in the US and Canada.
That said Canadian English is more of a hodge-podge than other forms of English around the world. We have a huge US influence, not only because we are neighbours/neighbors, but also because most Canadian kids grow up watching predominantly American tv.
So do British kids these days!
a ‘loose’ woman?
Can we please dispense with this misogynistic characterization?
3 posts were merged into an existing topic: How much does food play a part of your travels?
Hi @Rebecca_R You mention that “HO” is highly offensive in the US". How so? Where in the U.S.? I live in the U.S. and I have never heard that. If anything, it is a thing of pride to own a home–hence the term homeowner. We even have the term 'homeowner’s association (HOA) in some communities.
“the tube is the underground or the subway” and a subway is a pedestrian tunnel.
Commonly heard in Australia/New Zealand
“Yeah nah” means no.
“Nah yeah” means yes.
Speaking as a born and bred English person, where on earth are toters used to refer to rubbish bins???! 
That’s hilarious!!
“HO” as in ho/prostitute; it’s a misogynist slur.
Though it usually means “home office” in business writing, and I generally write it out because of the connotation and because I hate acronyms.
Oh not British English then. I was thinking you’d stumbled across one of the UK’s more random regional expressions!
On our way home to Gloucestershire from Scotland, we stopped off for the night just a little north of my native Yorkshire.
We went out for a wander along the river (Tees), obviously a popular place for the locals to walk their dogs.
“Ow ay” said one man to his dog who was trailing behind enjoying all the sniffs.
Ow ay (Ow as in how, ay as in pay) means “Come on”, something my dad used to say to me all the time, so it made me smile. My kids would be baffled if I said it to them!
If you’re in a fancy store or restaurant or a private home in the UK, how would you ask where the bathroom/restroom/toilet is? Would you ask where the loo is? To my ear, it sounds casual and informal, but maybe it’s perfectly polite.?? In a public place, do you specify whether you want the ladies’ or the mens’ loo?
Here in the USA, we would ask where the ladies’ room, mens’ room or rest room is. In a private home it would be the bathroom.
I remember hearing a long time ago that it was called a water closet or WC, but I just read that that’s archaic now.
In Canada, would you ask for the rest room? Or the wash room? Are they the same thing?
I’ve been watching the series Outlander.
The premise is that the main female character has traveled through time from 1945 to 1743. She’s English and was visiting the Scottish Highlands. So now she’s in the same place but two centuries before.
I recall, as a backpacker in NZ, how difficult it was to understand farmers from Fife. The “Manc” we were traveling with had to translate for us Americans and Canadians. I suppose the show would not have been successful had the accents been halfway realistic.
I’d just ask where the toilet is. They are often marked “Ladies” and “Gents” so some people might ask where the Ladies/Gents is if they wanted to specify gender. You could always ask “Where is the Ladies toilet?” to be totally clear.
I think most Brits would understand Ladies Room or Men’s Room.
Ditto what Debbie says… but would add (do you agree Debbie?), in a private home, I would still ask “where is, or can I use, your toilet” rather than bathroom. As a bathroom is very specifically a room with a bath, shower etc., usually upstairs. Many homes in UK have a separate downstairs toilet offered up to visiting guests. They would generally know, however, that you mean the toilet 
Yes, I totally agree @Vanessa_A.
Very occasionally you may come across a house where the bathroom doesn’t contain a toilet. My in-laws a 1960s house used to have a separate toilet room next to the bathroom until they redesigned it and knocked both rooms into one. The bathroom just had the bath/shower and washbasin.
Hi @mars Most of the versions you’ve mentioned would be used and understood in my area of Canada (southern Ontario), and I’ve seen most of them in public places. In a home, someone is likely to ask to use the washroom or bathroom. I think asking to use the toilet is used far less often here. Although many understand ‘the loo’, it wouldn’t be used. Far fewer people would know the term ‘WC’ and I doubt it’s used here. Keep in mind it’s a big country so in other areas the answer may be quite different. This is just my experience.