Only in recent years have I seen on the door of male intended water closets (oops giving away my age)the inscription MENS.

To see it written that way seems really wierd after seeing it for so many long years written as MEN.

I suppose this is just another example of written vs spoken English as in the email/emails debate in the equipment"s" thread.

Nobody will say, "the men room is down that hallway."  But when one arrives at the door of the mens room it should say, "men" which is already plural meaning that a pluralism of men could be expected to go through that door.  Or I guess it could read, "MAN."  Man door is often used in place of personnel door which of course cannot be PC these days.

If I don't see some really witty posts on this, I will be sorely disappointed.

Surely it should be MEN'S if it's a short form of MEN'S ROOM?

Some pubs around here have "Tool Shed".  One or two have "Cottage".

- Steve

"men" is the plural form of "man".

"mens" is not in the dictionary, at least the dictionary i have.
-pmover

Men's is possessive.  It's still a word that is commonly used, regardless of any dictionary.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto:  KISS
Motivation:  Don't ask

It should say 'Men' or 'Men's', one or the other.

I always thought of it a Latin survivor.
 From Cassell's : mens 1(b) the mind as the seat of feeling or thought.
 Rather appropriate I'd say.

If the word appears as a modifier to what type of room it is, then "Men's" is appropriate.

Ie.  Men's Room, Men's Lavatory, Men's Toilet, etc.

If the word appears by itself, and acts as direction for those that are permitted to enter, then Men is appropriate.

Ie. Men (you should enter here), or Women (men, you should NOT enter here)

-TJ Orlowski

Personally, as opposed to the women's room, I think we should rename ours "Mensa Room".

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto:  KISS
Motivation:  Don't ask

4U2P ?

Hispes/Herpes

- Steve

I've been in a bar where they had the just symbols.  The toilet symbol for the girls, and then for the boys a bunch of guys around a bathtub standing up peeing into it.  

 

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"  

Sompting, I've heard about those type of public bathrooms in your neck of the woods.  

Cottaging never caught my fancy.

M²48 do we say that with an italian accent?

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

Mike is right...it's the possessive form of a plural noun...what's the problem?

Should it be men's, or mens'?

==> Should it be men's, or mens'?
Men is already plural; therefore, the possessive is men's.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

Shall we crank up the old its versus it's discussions?

- Steve

So, which is it? ;)

Matt Lorono, CSWP
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources & SolidWorks Legion
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Men's is the proper spelling.  The usage of xxxs' is for nouns ending in s, such as many plurals or names.
An example would be Carlos' pants.  Sorry, couldn't think of a better example.

metman, you mean MENS, with or without an apostrophe, is the only word on the door?  And you've seen this more than once?!?That is so wrong...

"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge."  Ivana Trump

casseopeia --

An LPS for you!  That is how it struck me.  Why append an "S" on it?  But if you are going  do it, add the apostrophe.

There is a word for this act of unecessary colloquial wording but the best thing that comes to mind is;  stupid.

thanks metman, even if my LPS is invisible.  

This thread reminds me of a discussion I've had since moving to the 'hood.  People in these parts do not say 'it's mine'.  They say 'it's MINES'.  I attempted to correct someone once and they looked confused and said well if it's yours, then it's mines.

I didn't have an answer for that one.  But it still makes me laugh when I hear it.

"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge."  Ivana Trump

"Mines" is common in Ireland.  So I'm not surprised it's heard in the USA (at least 100% of Americans are Irish).
 

- Steve

Irrespective of what the title of the page is or the text used on the page, from the signs being offered, it appears that at least with this vendor, the proper term is Men and not Men's:

http://www.justbathroomsigns.com/Restroom/Mens-Room-Signs.aspx

But I did learn one thing and that's that there are special signs just for California.  Now we immigrated here nearly 31 years ago (from Michigan) and I travel all over the world for my job, but I never really paid much attention to the fact that virtually every public restroom in the state really DOES use the same style and type of signage...

http://www.justbathroomsigns.com/Restroom/California-Mens-Room-Signs.aspx

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
 

That's your tax dollars at work.  Someone probably makes mid six figures each year to determine that and keep it so.

rmw

The Men's Room is for men and the Women's Room is for women.

Flew into Auckland Airport.  

Long flight, and didn't see a rest room sign. Asked the friendly New Zealand Information lady... Rest Room?   She pointed me down the way, and sure enough was a room set up with cots for taking a quick nap.  

Went back out and said I was looking for the bath room.  Yes, finally a different location. It was a showering facility.

By the time I wondered back out I finally explained TOILET while crossing my legs.  Oh Dear, the Loo is right behind you. O and OO. I still don't remember which was men's or women's, but was just happy to have found a rest room!



 

Quote (twalter):

Oh Dear, the Loo is right behind you. O and OO. I still don't remember which was men's or women's...

I would think that that would be obvious

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
 

There used to be a lot of bars on Haight St. in San Francisco (the old hippie Haight-Ashbury district) that caters primarily to gay men. On a pub crawl with my wife and another couple one night in the 80's, the women had to relieve themselves so we stumbled into one not realizing. My buddy Dave and I stood at the bar and ordered drinks while we waited, the women came back really fast and said we had to go. That was about when our eyes adjusted and we realized where we were. The wives said there was no "Ladies Room", but there were two toilets, one marked Fems, one marked Butches. They went into the Fems. It didn't mean what they thought it did.  

"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my axe." -- Abraham Lincoln  
For the best use of Eng-Tips, please click here -> FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies  

Was in a pool hall/bar in Moscow, Idaho (University of Idaho) in the summer of '79.  Two rooms, one labeled "Cues", one labeled "Pockets".  Every since, that's been my favorite "cute" restroom signage.

That reminds me of the dance scene in the bar from the Jeff Daniels' movie 'Escanaba in da Moonlight'. Unfortunately they had to remove it from the theatrical release, but if you buy the DVD it's included in the 'deleted scenes' and you can see it there.  Without getting too graphic, it involved the men and women lining up on opposite sides of the dance floor with pool cues and rolls of toilet paper held between their respective knees (I'll let your imagination fill in the rest of the 'details').

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
 

Walked into one yesterday that said "Mens Restrooms".

Go figure.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

 

Quote (JohnRBaker):

I would think that that would be obvious winky smile

O for #1 and OO for #2?

NO!   'O' for men, 'OO' for women

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.com/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
 

Quote:

NO!   'O' for men, 'OO' for women

I don't know if the question and/or the answer might be inappropriate for this forum but the symbolism (abbreviation?) escapes me.

Why 'O' for men, 'OO' for women?

Because when men see a bathroom sign, they say "Oh."

When women see a bathroom sign, they say "Oh Oh."

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

 

You're correct, an unambiguous answer would probably prove to be inappropriate.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.com/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
 

XY for men. XX for women.  Simple not to mention scientific.

lacajun,

OK, by this circuitous path, I see the symbolism but shouldn't that be:

OI for men.  OO for women? But not scientific enough?

But then again, maybe the symbolism is in regard to the equipment in the room rather than the equipment on the people?

metman, your symbolism is fine.  Just wanted to throw out the chromosome angle.  But, I'm not sure some would get OI and OO.  In fact, some wouldn't get XY or XX.  

lacajun,

Yer splittin my guts with laughter.  Sometimes innuendos are so much more fun than bluntness.

metman, glad to provide comic relief.  It's a great part of life.

Are you sure they shouldn't be XY's and XX's?

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - Robert Hunter
 

I think part of the problem is the extra height required for the sign to fit the apostrophe.

Quite unfortunately, the room in question is not the place to have a period.

Regards,

SNORGY.

Yea.  Men just have colon problems...

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

 

Would that be colon problems of the A...... variety?

There's another?

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

 

:

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - Robert Hunter
 

;   <-- usually representative of a solution to the problem

Regards,

SNORGY.

Cole on dude!

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

 

Quote (SomptingGuy (Automotive)    20 Feb 11 4:30 ):

Surely it should be MEN'S if it's a short form of MEN'S ROOM?

A few days ago downtown in a 100 year old building there was a sign on a door;  MEN'S.

I really don't see the need for the S but at least they used correct abbreviated punctuation.


 

Men and Women are generally in such a snit to get into "the room" I bet they don't care what's on the door.

I don't have a problem with the possessive for restrooms; however, I've always thought of both as "Men" and "Women."  They're kinda' like traffic directions for cars vs. buses.  Cars go here, Buses go here.  Men go here.  Women go here.  But, I have a simple mind.

lacajun,

I think that is most people's take on it but there always has to be a few to tinker with variations on a theme.

Maybe they should just put buttons on the doors.

Buttons on the right = men; on the left = women.

Those wearing zippers or velcro just have to wait until they get home.

Regards,

SNORGY.