War Diaries Talk

Bathing

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    This isn't so much a question of World War I jargon as one of the difference, I think, between American and British terms. I just want to know what activity the term "bathing" refers to.

    In the U.S., the act of immersing oneself in a tub of water for the purpose of cleaning is referred to as bathing, but the act of immersing oneself in a body of water such as a pool, pond, river, lake, or ocean, for the purpose of recreation is referred to as swimming.

    So far, when I have encountered the term bathing, I have just tried to use my best judgment as to which of these activities it referred to, based on the context in the diary. I have now come across an author who makes a distinction between "bathing in the afternoon" during July and August and "parading for baths" so I decided to ask.

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  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    Hello, Cynthia, I think you will find this information regarding troops bathing in ww1 interesting. I would consider the activity is hygiene when they are having baths.
    https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110712041522AA4Sgtx
    (Google site regarding Bathing facilities in ww1 i.e questions/answer forum).

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  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    Quite a variety of answers there, Marie. Yes, no, and sort of.

    I'm mainly interested in sorting out what the British at the time of World War I called jumping into a river for recreational purposes.

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  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    If it was for recreational purposes I would say the tag would be leisure.

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    I think individual usage will vary, but in general I wouldn't be surprised to find both the hygiene and leisure activities referred to as bathing.

    In your first example, I would assume 'bathing in the afternoon' was probably leisure - jumping in a river or something similar - while 'parading for baths' would definitely be them all having a good wash for hygiene purposes.

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  • David_Underdown by David_Underdown moderator

    Probably the main difference for the troops was just that a formal bath parade would have also included a fresh uniform issue (hopefully giving at least temporary relief from lice), and perhaps hair cut etc as well. Splashing about in a river etc would have helped with basic personal hygiene, but obviously wouldn't have hot water, and perhaps not so much soap etc either.

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  • David_Underdown by David_Underdown moderator

    Should say that British English then would probably have used swimming bath rather than swimming pool, so there probably was less distinction. Suspect a lot of the ordinary soldiers wouldn't actually have been able to swim very well anyway.

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  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    Thank you, all, for your answers! You've all been very helpful.

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  • fisfiris by fisfiris in response to cyngast's comment.

    Only just seen this one. Getting into a bath for hygiene is 'bathing' whereas getting into a river or the sea is 'batheing'. However, I never expect war diary authors to be very erudite.

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  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator in response to fisfiris's comment.

    I think you are correct in that there are alternative forms "bath" and "bathe". However I don't think "batheing" is an actual word....

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  • fisfiris by fisfiris

    You're likely correct; my version is prejudiced by a probably incorrect spelling of 'Batheing Machines' in pre-war Frinton. Language also moves on.

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