Ask Mr. H…
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Thanks for the explanation. My memory of the actual advice was more not to confuse American and Canadian interest in particular sports. All the advice was given with humourous intent (I think). Have had two trips to Canada now and should have had a third last year.
I think sausage & mash is popular throughout the UK, and Ireland too. We had it for dinner only this week. The mash part was actually bubble and squeak (mashed potato with cabbage mixed through). Onion gravy with it, of course.
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Which Americans? My geography training taught me there are many Americas, South America, Central and Latin America, North America which includes the good ol’ USA and America Junior, sorry aboot that Canada, our loyal allies for these many years.
The Wifeacita says a torch is a foco de mano in her Texas Rio Grande Valley dialect, but I’m sure there are many other Spanish names for it.
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It can sound to someone unfamiliar with Spanish as if your hand is on fire. 
But it’s also a very straightforward description.
(I used to carefully and correctly specify which part of America, especially refusing to call a citizen of the US “an American” because it’s misleading to say it that way - when the US president says “My fellow Americans” he’s wrong, because he’s not addressing any Chileans, Mexicans, or Canadians - but it was unpopular when I did that.)
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I say we fight back in the snidest way we can: start taking those “names” at face value, and pronouncing them!
For example, if that chicken place wants us to call it Kiffick, then we will. We can get our Kiffick and sit down and watch some Nibba games, because we like buhball. And if the Kiffick proves insufficient for how much buhball we end up watching, we won’t care - we’ll just get some Mikkudd’s to chase it with. Even fake ice cream at the Dicq for after. (But no Tuhgiff - too expensive for a day of Nibba and Kiffick.) Just one thing though: If the Lapped or the Nyipped come knocking, we’re going to have to hide our BeeOhEnnJeez really fast. 
Iddick. Maybe that’s not the best way. Maybe we should go on the Name Rehabilitation World Tour: Reclaim the Names!
We could start with a real splash, in Ireland where all this name-shortchanging got started: we’ll order real Kentucky Fried Chicken with all the words on the bucket, and we’ll eat it by Twelve Benjamins in County Mayonnaise.
A flashlight in Castellano (Iberian Spanish) is a “linterna” …
Colloquialismos, one might hear “torche” …
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The most common here are: ( when you need one of these, stop in any bar and ask "where is the – " ?
Ladies Room / Mens Room
Bathroom
Restroom
Toilette ( French ) / Toilet
" Where is the Loo " ? (British)
Water Closet (British)
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Good one, I never would have guessed.
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Some non-English places use “WC” as a recognizable abbreviation, even though they don’t actually say the words “Water closet” in their language. That’s why there’s a 
sign on your system. (If you saw something there)
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Proposal for mixed English and French: “Lou ! Où ?”
Or no language:
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In the UK, “Americans” would usually be those from the USA. I doubt if I said to anyone here that I was visiting America, they would think I was actually visiting Honduras. Similarly, our Commonwealth cousins are always Canadians. Folk from south of the USA would generally (if inaccurately) be known as South Americans, or probably more usually by the actual country.
By the by, I’m surprised that you seemed confused by my reference. “Torch” is an English word so I would have thought unlikely that I was referring to its use by Spanish or Portuguese speaking South Americans. Of course, maybe you werent really confused.
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I doubt whether anyone in the UK has referred to a “water closet” for over a century, but may well say “WC”. Even in a technical usage, I doubt whether its used, with more common usage being “toilet”.
I’ve always assumed that use in the UK of “loo”, is taken from the French “lieu” (place) so, if so, then probably a polite 19th century euphemism.
By the by, in Spain, I’ve always asked for directions to “los servicios”. No idea if it’s actually correct but I’ve always been directed to the toilets.
Havent we come a long way from discussing mayo?
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Los Aseos ( ah sei ohs) would be correct in Spanish …
Los Servicios is understood but not correct …
Simple; I have heard thousands of tourists and expats use “bathrooms” or "
toilettes" and it is understood.
Thanks Barca. I don’t speak more than a few words of Spanish but usually enough to get by on holiday. When I can I prefer to use them in Spain rather than English. My problem is that, because these are words I’ve picked up during holidays over many years, I am often quite sure if it’s a word in Castilian or Mallorqui. I’ve had some strange looks when I’ve used a Mallorqui word in , say, Andalucia. 
My guess would be that the thousands of tourists you’ve heard saying “bathroom” will probably be American. It’s not a word generally used in British English for the toilets.
My French is slightly better than my Spanish - I briefly studied the former at school 55+ years ago and the parts of France I generally visit are not tourist areas so not many people speaking English. But I think “toilettes” is the actual word in French for toilets/aseos.
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I’m not confused at all. The Wifeacita grew up near the Texas/Mexican border and I was curious what they called a flashlight in Spanish. I’m always trying to improve my Spanish.
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Toilettes is French … Ou sont les toilettes ?
Toilets (toi lets or toi lits) depending where one is from is could be American or French Canadians.
Andalusians and Mallorquins speak very differently …
In Barcelona and the Madrid Capital, where there were millions of visitors, most bars understand and restaurants as well … And of course Hotel Front Desks.
Indeed so, on both counts. I wrote to that effect in my earlier post.
And, yes, I also agree that in the parts of Spain where there are lots of foreign tourists, those in the hospitality industry are very good is using the foreign languages. For example, I have all but given up using Spanish (Castilian) when I’m in Tenerife - I might say something in a restaurant in Spanish and the reply will come in English. But I still prefer to use whatever I might have of a local language when I can.
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More and more people today speak English. Prior to Covid, many companies pay for in house corporate classes for their directors and staff. I know, I have a company and I have always had all my staff speak Upper intermeditate B2.2 E.U. level - C1 advanced English or C2 level Advanced proficiency.
It is a key skill …
Yes, it is nice to be able to use a 2nd language or a 3rd too …
Have a lovely evening.
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Indeed so. But it makes we English speakers very lazy about learning a second language. Before retirement, my life companion worked for Shell which has a policy that English is the language of the business worldwide. And, years back, when my sister in law first married and lived in Mallorca, she worked giving kids private tuition in English.
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