number one & number two | WordReference Forums

It is something children say - It is a polite childish way to avoid using 'bad' words. It could be used in a mocking tone between two adults. If ... Forums Dictionarysearch:  English-Spanish English-French English-Italian English-German English-Dutch English-Russian English-Portuguese English-Polish English-Romanian English-Swedish English-Czech English-Greek English-Turkish English-Chinese English-Japanese English-Korean English-Arabic Spanish-English French-English Italian-English German-English Dutch-English Russian-English Portuguese-English Polish-English Romanian-English Swedish-English Czech-English Greek-English Turkish-English Chinese-English Japanese-English Korean-English Arabic-English Spanish-French Spanish-Portuguese Spanish-Catalan French-Spanish Portuguese-Spanish Englishdefinition Englishsynonyms Englishcollocations Englishusage Italiandefinition Spanishdefinition Spanishsynonyms Catalandefinition Spanish French Italian Login Register What'snew Search Rules/Help/FAQ Members InterfaceLanguage Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. numberone&numbertwo Threadstarter majlo Startdate Jun5,2011 majlo Banned UnionofEuropeanSocialistRepublics Polish Hello, TodayI'veheardanewidiomontheTVshow"Hell'sKitchenUS":tohavenumbertwo.IdidsomeresearchandIfoundoutthatitmeans"tohaveapooh".Ialsofoundoutthatthereisacorrespondingidiom"tohaveanumberone"whichmeans"tohaveapee"andthattheyareratherunknowntoAmEspeakers.Isthattrue?AretheyonlyusedinBritain?Aretheyusedanywhereelse?   catlady60 SeniorMember Nazareth,PA English-US(NewYorkCity) "Number1"forurinationand"number2"fordefecationisverycommonintheUnitedStates.InEnglish,especiallyintheUS,wesay,"Ihavetogonumber1"whenweneedtopee. Example:I'dwritealongpost,butIhavetogonumber1beforeIhaveanaccident.   P Parla MemberEmeritus NewYorkCity English-US TheseareverycommontermsamongyoungAmericanchildren.(Theyarenotusedbyadults,exceptwhenspeakingtosmallchildren.)   majlo Banned UnionofEuropeanSocialistRepublics Polish Parlasaid: (Theyarenotusedbyadults,exceptwhenspeakingtosmallchildren.) Clicktoexpand... Well,Ihaveseriousdoubtswhetherit'strue.Iactuallyheardanadultpersonsayittoanotheradult. Ithink,inanappropriatecontext,itcanjustaswellbeusedamongadults.Whatdoyouthink? AnyBrEspeakers?   I Inglip SeniorMember Dubai,UAE English-UK Itissomethingchildrensay-Itisapolitechildishwaytoavoidusing'bad'words. Itcouldbeusedinamockingtonebetweentwoadults.IfitwassaidonHellsKitchen,itwasprobablyGordonRamsayusingittomockanotherperson,andinsinuatethey'rechildish.   Calina18 SeniorMember Montreal francophoneQuébécoisd'originebelge Iknowthatthisisanenglishforum,butFYIthesameexpressionsarealsousedinfrenchandinthesamecontext.   majlo Banned UnionofEuropeanSocialistRepublics Polish FYI?Chatspeakisnotallowedintheseforums. Thankyouforthereplies.   A abigailmartin Member India India-Malayalam Yes,eveninIndia,theseterminologiesarecommonlyused.   HermioneGolightly SeniorMember London BritishEnglish Hum...Ican'tthinkofanycircumstancesinwhichIwouldfinditappropriatetouse'numberone'and'numbertwo'talkingwithadults.Infact,theseexpressionsaren'tinourfamilyandfriends'vocabulariesevenwhentalkingtoourchildren.Ican'tspeakforthepopulationingeneral,butIamsuretheyweremorecommondecadesagowhenpeoplefeltagreaterneedtoavoidmoreexplicitlanguageoranythingthatmightberegardedascrude. Whywouldanybodyneedtoannounceexactlywhytheyare"payingavisit". Hermione   F Fabulist Banned Annandale,Virginia,USA AmericanEnglish AlthoughI'mawareofthemnow,Ineverheardtheseexpressionsasachild55-64yearsago,andIdon'theartheminconversationnow.I'veneverhadanychildrentousethemwithmyself.I'dactuallyhavetolookthemuptodistinguishbetween"numberone"and"numbertwo,"ifIthoughtthedifferencewasimportant.   Myridon SeniorMember Texas English-US IfindthemtobecommonlyusedamongadultsandevenhearthemusedonTVprogramsastheoriginalposterdid.   P pob14 SeniorMember CentralIllinois AmericanEnglish Ithinkthey'refairlycommon,althoughmoresowithchildrenandinjokesthaninserioususewithadults."Number2"seemstohavemorphedinto"droppingadeuce"withcollege-agefolksthesedays.TheywerecommonenoughthirtyyearsagoorsoforcomedianGeorgeCarlintodoaroutineaboutthem:"Hey,look,thedogdidNumberSeven:fiveOnesandaTwo!"   majlo Banned UnionofEuropeanSocialistRepublics Polish IloveGeorgeCarlin.ThoughIdidnotknowthisone.   Packard SeniorMember USA,English <> Context: Ayoungwomanwastalkingtoherveryyoungson.Thesonsaidhehadtogotothebathroom.Momasked,"Numberoneornumbertwo?" InAENumberonemeanstourinate;numbertwomeanstohaveabowelmovement. Question: Isthisterminologyuniversal?IsitusedinBE?Inotherlanguages?   Lasteditedbyamoderator:Sep25,2013 heypresto SeniorMember SouthEastEngland English-England It'sthesameinBE.   JamesM SeniorMember LosAngeles,California English,USA Justtoadd...youcanalsohearitonhomeimprovementshows.The(relatively)newtoiletshavetwobuttons--oneforliquid,twoforsolids.Thehostoftheshowwillexplainthisas"ithastwobuttons-onefor'numberone'andonefor'numbertwo'".Itisadeeplyingrainedeuphemism,I'dsay.   P prudent260 SeniorMember Chinese catlady60said: "Number1"forurinationand"number2"fordefecationisverycommonintheUnitedStates.InEnglish,especiallyintheUS,wesay,"Ihavetogonumber1"whenweneedtopee. Example:I'dwritealongpost,butIhavetogonumber1beforeIhaveanaccident. Clicktoexpand... Itaughtmysonaboutthis,andtoday,hetoldmethathehadtodonumberonefirstbeforeleavinghome. Doyouusedobeforenumberone?Oronlygo?   UncleJack SeniorMember Cumbria,UK BritishEnglish "Do"istheverbIwoulduse(notthatIoftenuse"numberone/two"thesedays).Iwouldalsoaddanarticle:doanumberone.   P prudent260 SeniorMember Chinese UncleJacksaid: "Do"istheverbIwoulduse(notthatIoftenuse"numberone/two"thesedays).Iwouldalsoaddanarticle:doanumberone. Clicktoexpand... Iwassurprisedthatakidcanpickupwordslikethesefast. Thankyou,Jack.   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit WhatsApp Email Share Link EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Top