little boys' room

• little boy's room, little boys room

Originally from the need to find public lavatories for children, but subsequently used more broadly.

little boys' room (plural little boys' rooms)

1. (euphemistic, informal) Synonym of men's room: a public lavatory intended for use by men.

   Excuse me, where is the little boys' room? My son is about to burst a bladder.

   • 1934 August 18, Liberty, page 40:

     He accidentally locked himself in the ca—in the little boys' room.

   • 1938 November 25, Princeton Alumni Weekly, page 209:

     The first [sc. cartoon], representing a very young chap seeking directions to the little boys' room in the Metropolitan Museum, prompted the management to frame it and hang it in the aforesaid room.

2. A room belonging to or used by little boys, particularly their bedroom.

• See Thesaurus:bathroom

• little girls' room

• "little boy, n. and adj." in the Oxford English Dictionary (2014), Oxford: Oxford University Press.