上/下厕所？

[HedgePig]

I came across the phrase "我去下厕所" I (shall) go to the toilet.

However, the one native speaker I asked insisted it should be 上 not 下.

A quick google shows that 下 occurs more commonly. Are both acceptable? Is this a regional (or perhaps gender!) difference?

Yours bursting....with curiosity

HedgePig

[Guoke]

我去下厕所 = 我 去 一下 厕所

[xiaocai]

I think 我去上厕所 and 我去下厕所 are both correct. 我去下厕所 is short for 我去(上)(一)下厕所.

[crazy-meiguoren]

I choose 上. It's because I'd never want to be 下 one of those things.

[HedgePig]

Thanks! That clears things up.

[BeyondEng]

both are correct. but there are some differences between them.

when using "我去上厕所", that means you are going to have a piss or excrement.

while "我去下厕所" contains more meanings, maybe you go to the toilet just to wash your hand, or even look into the mirror.

PS."我去上下/一下厕所" is correct too. In this situation, "下/一下" means nothing but acts as an auxiliary. We Chinese people are used to saying like that.

[chrix]

If you google for a different construction like 我要上/下廁所, you'll get quite clear results...

[HashiriKata]

If you google for a different construction like 我要上/下廁所, you'll get quite clear results...

I think your 上/下廁所 may not work the same way as 去上/下厕所. Without 去, 上廁所 and 下廁所 may in fact mean the same, just as 下馆子 is more or less the same as 上馆子.

[chrix]

What I meant was if you google for a different construction, it becomes clear that 上 and 下 indeed have different functions...