"Like.....I had one old woman snip at me about how I called the bathrooms, well, 'bathrooms'; clearly, I should have said 'washrooms' or 'powder-rooms', like she did asking for them."

Technically, there is no actual name for them. When they were invented people were so offended by the very IDEA that they were only entirely referred to by euphemisms. As in 'you don't store water in a water closet', you can't take a bath in a room with a toilet and sink, you don't rest in a restroom, etc.

Even the toilet is a euphemism, there's no real word for it. This is also, incidentally, why the 'bread and things you cram up a turkey's ass' is referred to as 'dressing' sometimes, because the victorians found 'stuffing' vulgar.

As to the southern thing... I couldn't care less. My family moved to the US sometime around WWI, and my parents were the first ones to move out of Michigan in any case, so it's got nothing to do with me in any direction.It isn't MY history, it's the history of where I happen to live at the moment,

The tourists tend to forget that all that 'southern gent/lady' nonsense came about because of the free time provided by having other people work for you for free.

Wow! What a great posting and responses!

First (as I step up on my pedantic soap box) "water closet" actually means "water valve", and has nothing to do with a "clothes closet" (A "closet" is something that closes.) So WC is nothing more than an English euphemism for the john or the crapper (both of which allegedly comes from "John Crap", apparently a manufacturer whose name was on the plumbing). (Stepping down again.)

Anyway the rant about the CSA battle flag was very good. Unfortunately many folks rally around that flag seem NOT to remember it was a lost cause. (Why do folks glorify war?) But I firmly agree we should NOT suppress our history, so long as we don't glorify the wrong aspects of it. The current brouhaha about statues and name (of CSA leaders in particular, but even C Columbus in NYC for another example) comes to mind. I fully understand the one side that wants to tear down statues of RE Lee in the center of town. Who wants to daily confront a monument to a traitor to the USA who defended the cause of slavery of one's people? My take is to move the statue onto private ground - not to destroy it. RE Lee won't go away. We should all learn from his mistakes. But glorifying him on public space is quite a reasonable thing to object to.

Now, as to imitating manners, words, customs. There's another way to look at this. When an American learns French (for example) he often refuses to shed his American accent -- thinking it's silly to pronounce words the way the French do. So his utterances are unintelligible to all. I take the reverse stance. Pronunciation is the MOST important; vocabulary only secondary. (There ARE dictionaries and guide books to read from.) So LEARN pronunciation by imitating a French accent do -- speak English like Pepe le Pew! This can actually teach you to pronounce words like the French do. (Then you need only learn how to READ French orthography, which is very systematic but quite different than English.)

The point of this rant is that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If a Northerner tries to come across as Southern, accept that as flattery. But note that it doesn't give them any status whatsoever. Rather it's like a baby's first words. Correct them! Teach them! (Humiliating them publicly if they can't accept the correction!)

Have you never seen Robin Hood: Men in Tights? Everyone knows that the term "John" came about when King Richard returned from the crusades and found out what Prince John was up to in his absence. By his royal decree, all toilets were henceforth referred to as Johns XD