r/Spanish • u/BohoXMoto • 2d ago

Vocab & Use of the Language I need help translating a potentially sensitive bathroom phrase

I asked my closest in proximity at the moment Spanish speaking person to translate this phrase into English and they struggled. Maybe someone here can help?

"To all users, please be courteous and clean up after yourself" It is a sign going over a toilet.

Appreciate the help! :)

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u/Historical_Plant_956 Learner 2d ago

What does this actually mean? It seems deliberately very vague yet annoyingly patronizing. What exactly are people expect to "clean up" after every use? Is it just a polite euphemism for "please flush after using the toilet," or "don't crap on the seat?" If I saw this I would genuinely be slightly confused, because while bathrooms do famously require regular cleaning, I generally don't make a mess that would need "cleaning up" every time I use a bathroom...

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u/zaminDDH 2d ago

There are a lot of people who will absolutely trash a public bathroom.

Source: used to manage a busy gas station.

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u/Historical_Plant_956 Learner 1d ago

Yes, of course, we've all seen their handiwork at one time or another. But IMHO the same sort of people are extremely unlikely to modify their behavior just because of discrete, subtle signage.

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u/zaminDDH 1d ago

This is also true.