Таня, a Russian colleague of mine, and I were discussing the social contexts in which using the word туалет is too direct in Russian. For instance, if she is at a restaurant with a mixed group of men and women, she would never leave the table by saying «Я иду в туалет». Instead she would stand up, say «Я сейчас приду» or «Пойду, помою руки». But if she were there with only her подруги, she might say «Я иду в туалет» and maybe even add «Не хочешь со мной» “Do you want to go with me?”
This I understand. What I wonder, though, is whether the same conditions apply the other way around. In other words,
A. If a Russian man is in a restaurant in mixed company, will he feel fine saying «Я иду в туалет» or will he rephrase it with «помыть руке» (or other euphemism)?
B. If a Russian man is in a restaurant with just his male friends, will he say «Я иду в туалет»?
C. Would a Russian man ever ask his buddy to go to the bathroom with him? That is a situation I can't imagine in the US. No American man will ever (outside of medical emergency) say to his buddy “Do you want to go to the bathroom with me?”



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