Conditional terms

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In the last post Evolving meanings I referred to the mix-up in interpreting WC and the resultant humor. Wherever the British ruled, WC is generally considered to mean Water Closet or a toilet, though sort of a now extinct term like LAV that the old time Americans abbreviated for Lavatory. These days of course 'toilet' is the accepted way. But if you search, the abbreviation takes on many forms, from World Cup to Wise County to Wise Crack, Web Components to World Congress and many more. Obviously.

Below is the humor part taken from a very old souvenir, that though has remained nestled deep among the line of books surprisingly got located with a bit of patience in time.

W.C. (Wise Crack)

A party of Englishmen touring in Germany came across a nice little country cottage which they decided to buy. They took the plans of the cottage back to England. The lady of the house, while going over her plans discovered that there was no W.C. marked on it. She wrote to the owner, a Presbyterian priest asking about the same. The priest mistook W.C. to mean Welsh Chapel, a place of worship nearby. He replied:

Dear Madam

The place that you have mentioned is about 5kms away from the cottage. Do not worry, as there is a regular bus service up to that place. It's a lovely spot and one can picnic out there. The youngsters can walk up to it for exercise if they want to. It is advisable to carry your lunch to the spot.

The place is very large and has a seating capacity of 500. The seats are lined with velvet. The children may join their parents in the chorus if they wish to, but otherwise, they must keep quiet. Pets are not allowed inside. A paper is distributed at the entrance, but do not crumple it as it has to serve one whole month.

There are photographers who photograph this very humanitarian act, and these are published in the local newspapers.

Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,

I did try locating the joke online to link, but the one found wasn't so convincing. Not sure if it's the original or an adaptation in a different form. Considering what first appeared over forty years back (that's much before let alone Internet, but even audio cassette players) to be the first thought out, put in some effort to type the whole thing out verbatim.

Now that I mentioned 'toilet', it brings to mind how the term was used to convey a different sort in some old novels. As you guessed, it would make up for a future post once the lines get located...