Cross cultural toilet talk part 1 "Sssshhh"

Today I watched a Khmer teacher teaching English to her 4-5 year olds. She was teaching them the English sound "sh". As this sound doesn't occur in the Khmer language it is a hard new sound for learners. To help them, she said- "Sssshhhhh, like when you go to the toilet."

It sounded funny to me, but seemed normal to them. I don't think I would have got what she meant if I hadn't come across this before. A few years ago I was teaching some adults English. When I wanted them to be quiet and listen to me I said "SSSHHHHH!".

This sent them into fits of giggles, I had no idea why. I told my then-boyfriend about it and he explained that sshhhhh is the sound that mothers use when they ask their kids if they need to use the bathroom!

"Ssshhhh?"