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Our company has signs at the toilet that read

Please leave the toilet properly

Is that correct? My intuition would be that "properly" as an adverb would reference the action "leave" and not the thing "toilet." So that wouldn't make sense, right?

If it is indeed wrong - what would be a better way of phrasing it?

Laurel
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Mathias Bader
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    Our organisation has: Please leave the toilet as you would wish to find it. – Shoe Mar 21 '19 at 16:09
  • Perhaps the author became too squeamish to post a sign with the word flush and replaced that word with leave, as something of a euphemism, forgetting to change properly. – TimR Mar 21 '19 at 18:05
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    Our organisation tried: Please leave the toilet as you found it. but that soon led to the rules-followers not being able to use it. – TimR Mar 21 '19 at 18:11
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    I think the confusion here might be the use of the word "toilet". In US usage, the word refers strictly to the commode, i.e. the thing you sit on. In UK and other places, it refers to the entire room where the commode is (and often a sink). This is further distinct from "bathroom", which would include a bath or shower as well. (These are often the same room in the US, but usually separate in Europe.) – Darrel Hoffman Mar 21 '19 at 20:56
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    Seems like a better question for https://ell.stackexchange.com – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft Mar 21 '19 at 22:20
  • @DarrelHoffman: “bathroom” is also very widely used to mean the room of the toilet, whether or not that contains a bath or shower (most predominantly in US English, but also pretty commonly in the UK and elsewhere). This is of course a bit euphemsitic, and so sometimes dismissed as “incorrect”, especially by Brits complaining about American influence — but it’s no more inaccurate than toilet and lavatory were when they started to acquire their current meanings. – PLL Mar 22 '19 at 14:06
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    The suggested phrase lacks the crispness of "Gentlemen lift seats" or "Flush with success." – Sven Yargs Mar 22 '19 at 14:19
  • By the way, use of "toilet slogan" in the title made me chuckle... A slogan is used in political campaigns or to support a brand. A "toilet slogan" would be used to sell a toilet. OP probably means to use "notice" rather than "slogan". – foobarbecue Mar 24 '19 at 16:53
  • Thanks for the info @foobarbecue. I changed it accordingly – Mathias Bader Mar 25 '19 at 12:44
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    Is your company English speaking?? How could AmE/BrE even be relevant? To do something properly, yes. Not something one normally sees in toilets! The issue here is not the toilet, restroom, gents,ladies etc. The issue is: properly. – Lambie Mar 25 '19 at 13:02
  • No. You want a suitable resultative construction using perhaps an adjective describing state, not an adverb describing manner of exiting. But probably, phrases sound more natural here: 'Please leave the toilet as clean as you found it.' / 'Please leave the toilet as you would wish to find it. / 'Please leave the toilet spotless.' – Edwin Ashworth Jun 16 '22 at 12:21
  • @EdwinAshworth, what exactly does your comment add to what is already posted in the answers? – jsw29 Jun 16 '22 at 14:45
  • @jsw29 The question is essentially a duplicate, adverbs and resultatives having been distinguished on ELU years ago. I didn't have time to find the best candidate. Nor now. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 16 '22 at 18:32
  • Be careful of the company you keep (or the one that keeps you). – David Jun 16 '22 at 19:39
  • Adverbs / resultatives have been covered at The function of 'young' in these sentences. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 17 '22 at 10:46
  • @jsw29 I can't find the correct term for this type of what some call secondary predication, 'resultative construction', among the answers here. But I have found an adequate duplicate. There are, I seem to remember, others. I remember 'He shot wide' being discussed as indeterminate (is 'wide' a resultative adjective or a manner adverb here?) – Edwin Ashworth Jun 17 '22 at 10:50
  • @EdwinAshworth, the distinction you draw in your answer to the other question does not answer this question. In the terminology you used there, the OP of this question want to know whether the quoted sentence could be interpreted as a resultative construction. I take it that you agree with the answers already posted that it cannot, but that does not automatically follow from your answer to the other question; this question is therefore not its duplicate. – jsw29 Jun 17 '22 at 15:12
  • @jsw29 'Please leave the toilet properly' is grammatical but hardly belongs on a site intended for linguists. And neither does suggesting a better statement, an alternative such as 'Please leave the toilet as clean as you found it / tidy / clean.' A reasonably accomplished linguist should see the difference in the structures from the examples at the earlier thread. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 17 '22 at 18:37

4 Answers4

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I read this sentence as: Please exit from the toilet in the correct manner. Don't do any silly walks. Don't try to walk through the door before you've opened it. Don't scream, "She's gonna blow!" as you charge out of the stall.

It's a grammatical English sentence and even has a real meaning, but probably not the meaning the sign writers intended.

Presumably they meant something like please leave the toilet in the proper condition. You could arguably write this as "please leave the toilet proper," in the same way that you'd write "please leave the toilet clean." We do not say, "Please leave the toilet cleanly," because, as you say, the adverb cleanly modifies the verb leave, not the noun toilet.

Still, I don't know what the "proper condition" of a toilet is, so leave the toilet proper wouldn't make sense to me. Perhaps they mean leave the toilet clean and with the seat and lid down and make sure to flush. If so, that's not coming through with that terse message.

And even if the "proper condition" were unambiguous, and if they did mean leave the toilet proper, as has been pointed out in the comments, it would be more natural to use "leave the toilet proper1" to mean step away from the toilet (the apparatus) or else, exit the formal toilet area (and perhaps enter the makeshift toilet)

1:

proper

strictly limited to a specified thing, place, or idea the city proper
// the city proper

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proper

Juhasz
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    When I was a boy, British public toilets often had a notice by the door saying "Gentlemen: please adjust your dress". It did not suppose that men wore frocks; it was a reminder to do up one's fly. – Michael Harvey Mar 21 '19 at 16:49
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    "Please leave the toilet proper" could be interpreted as "Please leave the place formally designated as the toilet." – StackOverthrow Mar 21 '19 at 17:39
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    @TKK The opposite, surely. Imagine a huge building whose only function is to be a toilet block but which contains grand corridors, waiting areas and so on. The whole thing would formally designated as "the toilet[s]", but "the toilet proper" would refer to the actual lavatory. – David Richerby Mar 21 '19 at 17:55
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    I'm having a bad day. I really needed that first paragraph. Thanks and +1. – cobaltduck Mar 21 '19 at 18:15
  • Good points about the "toilet proper." I've updated my answer. – Juhasz Mar 21 '19 at 18:34
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    @DavidRicherby Now I imagined a skyscraper full of apartments, except that instead of apartments, it's just toilets all the way up. – user253751 Mar 22 '19 at 06:37
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    @immibis that sounds like a bizarre inversion of "turtles all the way down" – Chris H Mar 22 '19 at 09:01
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    Well....wouldn't an improper way to leave the toilet be to leave it in a mess? If so, this could be included in the list in your first paragraph. ""Not only don't scream as you leave, but don't turn your back on a pile of soggy TP draped over the commode." – B. Goddard Mar 22 '19 at 13:23
  • @B.Goddard, this would suggest that cleaning the toilet is a part of leaving the toilet. Some people may think that leaving involves cleaning, but I suspect that most people do not. So this seems like a possible interpretation, but not a very likely one. – Juhasz Mar 22 '19 at 13:50
  • Can I ask what dialect you speak? "Please leave the toilet proper" absolutely does not mean "in the proper condition" in American English so I'm curious where it does. – Azor Ahai -him- Mar 22 '19 at 19:07
  • @AzorAhai, I don't know if it typically means "in the proper condition" in any English dialect (which is why I wrote "presumably meant" and "could arguably write"). As I said, I would expect "leave the toilet proper" to mean exit/step away from the toilet. – Juhasz Mar 23 '19 at 03:16
  • My preferred way of conveying this in English would be, "If you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie, wipe the seatie." – John Smith Mar 23 '19 at 16:10
  • @MichaelHarvey Dress is still commonly used to mean one's attire or clothing though. – JDF Mar 24 '19 at 01:52
  • @Deonyi - yes, I know. – Michael Harvey Mar 24 '19 at 08:08
  • I'm very surprised that anyone at all would think one would find: "Please exit from the toilet in the correct manner." in a toilet. The only communication one sees is about cleanliness and so forth. And for women, Don't flush sanitary products down the toilet. For pete's sake. "Please don't do silly walks"?? Give me strength....:)How does this answer rate such kudos? – Lambie Mar 25 '19 at 13:10
  • @Lambie, I'm sure you're right; no one expects to see such a sign. As I said, the literal meaning of the sign is almost certainly not what the sign writers intended to communicate. I attempted to use humor to point out the slightly humorous error the sign writers made. – Juhasz Mar 25 '19 at 13:47
  • I took "you could arguably write ..." to mean "you could grammatically convey this as ..." Maybe you could tweak it to make it clearer it isn't idiomatic English. – Azor Ahai -him- Mar 25 '19 at 16:51
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Is your company in a place with a lot of French speakers? Looks like a mistranslation of propre (=clean).

Bloke Down The Pub
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Yes, it is wrong. As you can tell from the other answers, it is a bit puzzling.

The author may have been trying for one of these effects:

  1. People should put their clothing back together properly before leaving the toilet area. So a correct way of phrasing this would be; "Please adjust your clothing before leaving".

  2. People should leave the room, and especially the toilet itself clean and tidy. This could be expressed as: "Please leave the toilet clean and tidy" or "Please leave the toilet as you would wish to find it."

This is one place where liberal use of smileys is appropriate.

RedSonja
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    I'd agree that the notion was probably #2. Not sure where sign was. It might mean "Please leave the bathroom clean and tidy." – MaxW Mar 22 '19 at 23:57
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The sentence "Please leave the toilet properly" does not mean anything.

In common English usage one would have to wonder what they are referring to regarding the word "properly". If the intention is to leave the toilet clean, or having flushed the toilet, then this should be explicity nominated. Or more generally one might put up a sign,

"Please leave the toilet clean and ready for the next person".

I hope this helps.

Sciencez
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    This answer is wrong. "Please leave the toilet properly" does have meaning and is a perfectly valid sentence, as other answers have demonstrated. – Andrew Leach Mar 23 '19 at 11:09
  • Yes, it has meaning but the meaning is not something one would see in a toilet, for heaven's sake. No one directs people on proper exiting procedures for a toilet. – Lambie Mar 25 '19 at 13:07
  • It's not unthinkable that you could have the sign "Please leave the toilet quietly", if people leaving the toilet are likely to disturb others. I've even seen signs telling people to adjust their dress before leaving. So you clearly can tell someone the manner in which to leave the toilet (maybe "properly" means "preserving decorum and proper standards of dress and behaviour"). In making a sign it's common to look for the shortest expression, to make the sign small and the typeface large. – Stuart F Jun 16 '22 at 10:35