lavabo social

Could a Brazilian Portuguese speaker please tell me what a house
or flat-hunter means when he says that the property that he will buy must ha\ve a 'lavabo social'? Thanks.

It is a water closet for the use of guests at a social gathering.

Thankyou very much, Dom Casmurro.

Well, I beg to differ somewhat. I expect a Brazilian mind to think in terms of Brazilian real estate. In that terminology, "social" rarely has to do with social gatherings. In general, middle-class and upscale Brazilian housing assumes the presence of live-in help and part of a dwelling is the servants quarters, referred to as "dependências de empregada". The rest is referred to as "social" (of course, "masters quarters" would be horrible). In a flat block or apartmente building the common areas are likewise divided: There tend to be separate lifts, entrances and hallways qualified as "social" or "de serviço". The former serves the residents and their guests, while deliveries and service personal are supposed to use the latter.

Oh, and another term for "lavabo" is powder room, sometimes called a half bath: It will have a sink and a toilet but no bathing fixture. Ideally it's easily accesible to guests one is entertaining, without their having to enter the more private areas in the dwelling.

Regards

In Brasil, many dwellings, not only the rich ones but also in the middle-class realm, have a lavabo, just close to the dining-room and living-room (or both, if they share the same space) - it's a small room, provided with a sink and sometimes a WC. After socializing with the hosts, visitors or guests may go to these lavabos to wash their hands, ect, before sitting and eating the meal.

Anyway, it isn't rare to see a similar room in the dwellings of the blue-collar class mainly if their houses have a backyard with a churrasqueira (kind of barbecue grill). The reason is the same as above but in this case one will seldom hear the word lavabo, it's simply banheiro, like any other in the house.

Hallo Guigo,

Thankyou very much for your reply. I never imagined that I would learn so much about these 2 simple words together, which would be impossible from a dictionary.

Hallo Coolbrowne,
Thankyou very much for your reply, I have plan of a Brazilian apartment so that I am able to visualize the separate functions along the lines you described. Regards.

This is not incorrect. However, it may inadvertently suggest restrictions on the purpose already explained above:

Guigo said:

...visitors or guests may go to these lavabos to wash their hands, ect, before sitting and eating the meal.

In fact a lavabo will offer (non-staying) guests, whether or not there is a meal involved, bathroom facilities during the extent their visit, precisely to avoid, again, their having to enter the more private areas.

Now this is additional interesting information, but it doesn't really apply to a flat:

Guigo said:

... if their houses have a backyard ... in this case one will seldom hear the word lavabo, it's simply banheiro...

Once one strays from apartments, there are many more options in termos of location of a half-bath fulfilling the apartment lavabo function explained above.

Regards

Depending of course on the context :

a "public restroom", a bathroom usually without bath services, accessible to the general public and maintained by the municipality or the entity that makes it available.

a "guest restroom" a division in a private house, completed or not with bathing fixtures, open and accessible to all.

In Portugal this would be read as a "public restroom" (casa-de-banho publica/lavabos publicos) if opened to the general public. As private inhouse bathrooms are a "modern concept" (mid 1930's) the term would relate to either "general public bathroom" or "public baths".

Thankyou, Almafadado, for your answer as the only European respondent.
To an Englishman, 'bathroom' really means a room with the main purpose of taking a 'banho de banheira'. The American meaniing is, of course, different. Regards, Southdown.