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Going to the bathroom
I think even just a tanru {lumci kumfa} suffices for "washroom." You
needn't postulate the third place in kumfa, though I admit it would
certainly make sense. Similarly, {vikmi kumfa} "shitting room" works for
how I'd translate the American usage of "bathroom," so far as I am
concerned. Maybe a "nu" or "nun" in there to indicate the act of shitting.
(note: it's not "shit room" as that would be {se vikmi kumfa}) As was
pointed out, the Berlitz-ish exercise ("where is the bathroom?") really
shouldn't be translated into a sentence meaning "I want to shit" or some
such. Faced with such a statement, I'd likely say, "Hey, if you don't know
how to do that, that's not *my* problem, buddy." What's needed is a
request for directions to the necessary (yet another euphemism). I'd go
for either of these:
le vikmi kumfa cu zvati ma
the shitting-room is-at what? (i.e. where).
mi [ka'e] klama le vikmi kumfa fo ma
I [am-able-to] go to the shitting room by-route what?
(i.e. how do I get there?)
It may be best to specify that you want a nearby one. Directions to the
one in my house several hundred miles away won't be really helpful, unless
you're just being extremely foresighted.
~mark