I am writing a religious article that's related to urine. Since it will be on a religious website, I don't want this word 'URINE' to be in its heading. Please suggest a good word.
asked Jun 22, 2012 at 20:57
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3Use a different title?– Mariano Suárez-ÁlvarezJun 22, 2012 at 21:08
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5If the word "urine" shouldn't appear in the title, why is it allowable as the subject of the article? Anyway, more context might allow formulating an answer which doesn't use the word but can give the idea. At the moment, all we have is "the article is about urine".– Andrew Leach ♦Jun 22, 2012 at 21:08
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4Is this question taking the piss? (For the sarcasm impaired, there are many colloquialisms for urine *8')– Mark BoothJun 22, 2012 at 21:12
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5What would your title be -with- 'urine'? That'll give us a better idea of how to reword things.– MitchJun 22, 2012 at 21:56
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2This should have been closed a long time ago...– Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_Sep 29, 2020 at 19:24
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6 Answers
By far, the most common euphemisms for urine (n.) are pee and number one. Beyond those, there are more: excretion, liquid body waste, P, piddle, tinkle, waste, water, wee, wee-wee.
In a religious context, the choices are different. Not knowing which religion you mean, I compared fifteen translations of 2 Kings 18:27 (a sacred text from my cultural tradition) and found the following:
- urine (8 translations)
- water (4 translations)
- excretion (1 translation)
- piss (1 translation: not a euphemism any more, but this was the term common at the time of King James)
- waste (1 translation)
On a side note, there are also plenty of euphemisms for urinate, and those get interesting. For example, apparently the English spend a penny. One of my good friends always says he has to see a man about a horse.
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At first I was a bit confused by "not a euphemism anymore". (I've heard "take a piss" often enough, and I'm not old enough to remember King James. But then I read this, and wondered if that's what you were referring to, maybe?) P.S. I chuckled rather heartily at number one – a clever headline writer might be able to embed a rather witty pun using that terminology.– J.R.Jun 23, 2012 at 2:19
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"number one" is most common? Any sources for that (apart from Google which is clearly useless here)? Never heard of it. Oh, I see it's used in schools a lot. US schools, I surmise. So... wouldn't know it. Do adults use it? Jun 23, 2012 at 19:42
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@JürgenA.Erhard: I'm not sure about "most common," but the expression is indeed widely understood, and often used when one wants to (how to say this delicately?) distinguish between a #1 and a #2. This lingo is frequently employed between parents and small children, but it might get used between adults on occasion, too. For example, such a dialog might run something like this: "I have to use the rest room." "How long will you be?" "Not long, I'm just going #1..."– J.R.Jun 24, 2012 at 2:32
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Good for you including the word wee dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/wee_2 Jul 16, 2014 at 20:10
I suppose you could use "micturition", but really, "urine" is the correct scientific term, and no-one will know what you are talking about if you do change it.
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3As noted in another answer, micturition means urination, not urine, so be careful not to simply substitute it for urine in the article.– MetaEdJun 22, 2012 at 22:26
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Perhaps you could use a more general term such as "bodily fluid" or "biofluid" in your title, and then make it clear what your specific subject is (urine) in the introduction.
For a chemical slant, you could try aqueous urea.
Merriam-Webster's definiton of effluent includes:
liquid that is released as waste
I consider the term technical, rather than clinical or medical.
The Bible uses the word, "piss." Why not just use piss? That's the correct and proper English word for that liquid.
