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SWISS HABITS

True or False: Is it illegal in Switzerland for men to pee standing up after 10pm?

You may have seen claims on social media sites that men in Switzerland aren't allowed to pee standing up after 10pm and wondered whether it is true. After all, the Swiss have some very strange rules.

True or False: Is it illegal in Switzerland for men to pee standing up after 10pm?
Should men have to sit down to pee at night? Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Over the years, many stories have circulated about some very bizarre habits and rules that Swiss people have created to complicate their (and everyone else’s) lives.

For instance, you can’t engage in any even remotely noisy activity on Sundays or late evenings, or dispose of your trash in a haphazard way.

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So while the ban on nighttime vertical peeing sounds totally plausible in Switzerland, do people (specifically, men) really have to comply with it, or is this just an urban legend?

If you’ve been holding your breath (or bladder) waiting for the answer, you may find the response somewhat wanting.

Our research revealed that there is some truth to this rule, though it comes with a lot of nuances, similar to the urban myth about flushing toilets at night:

Swiss daily dilemmas: Can I flush my toilet at night?

Hopefully, this information will bring you… some relief.

The truth behind peeing

Without getting too deeply into the details of male urination pattern, it is obvious that when men relieve themselves while standing up, the noise made by this action can be quite loud.

The decibel level also depends on how tall the man is and how full his bladder is — the taller / fuller combination will result in louder peeing.

It all depends on how loud you are and how thin the walls are. Photo by Elyas Pasban on Unsplash

Much also depends on who is within the earshot of the bathroom and how thick or thin the walls in the apartment building are.

Daytime versus nighttime peeing

While during the day, loud peeing may be a bit more tolerable, at night the noise can be disturbing to your neighbours (again, it depends on how thin your walls are).

In Switzerland, the hours between 10 pm and 7 am are designated as national quiet time, meaning that no loud noises are allowed anywhere in the country.

While nobody can outright forbid peeing during the night — standing, sitting, or swinging from a trapeze — being a good neighbour means not disturbing the sleep of people around you.

In general, Swiss law requires tenants to be considerate of other residents in the building, though this rather general statement leaves a lot up to individual interpretation.

Still, common sense dictates that a very tall man emptying his full bladder can be bothersome to some people, though certainly not as much as someone playing a drum in the middle of the night, a dog howling at the full moon, or this:

‘Oh God — I’m coming’: noise row goes public 

The bottom line is that while upright peeing after 10 pm is not a criminal offence and you won’t be led away in handcuffs, it could be disturbing to sensitive, or just cranky and irritable, neighbours.

So what should you do if you get a call of nature in the middle of the night?

First, read your rental agreement to see whether, and what type of, nighttime noises are not allowed.

You may also want to sit on the loo rather than stand, insulate your walls, or go live far away from civilisation.

And here are some other Swiss rules that may keep you awake at night:

The 12 strange laws in Switzerland you need to know

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For members

SWITZERLAND EXPLAINED

‘Il fait bon chaud’: Geneva reveals how different French is in Switzerland

It is a well-known fact that the Swiss German language is totally different from ‘regular’ German. But what about the French spoken in Switzerland?

'Il fait bon chaud': Geneva reveals how different French is in Switzerland

Overall , the language of the Suisse Romande (the French part of Switzerland) is pretty similar to the one spoken in France.

In any case, it is not so different that the Swiss and the French don’t understand each other (so this can’t be the reason why the two sometimes look down on one other.)

READ ALSO: How the Swiss see their French neighbours — and vice versa

Here are some examples.

During the Francophone Week, which was held in French-speaking nations and regions of the world from March 14th to 23rd, the city of Geneva took to social media to highlight six typically Swiss-French expressions.

They are:

Ca va, le chalet?

This literally means, ‘how is your chalet?’ but in the Suisse Romande  it means ‘are you crazy?’

The same  expression in France is ‘tu es fou?’

Il n’y a pas le feu au lac 

No, this is not someone telling you the lake is on fire (which makes no sense whatsoever).

Instead, it expresses that something is not urgent — a message a French person would convey as ‘il n’y a pas d’urgence.’

Il fait bon chaud

Instead of saying simply ‘il fait chaud’, as any French person would, the Swiss prefer to interject the work ‘bon’ into this sentence — just because.

READ ALSO: Seven hacks you’ll need for life in French-speaking Switzerland

Remettre l’église au milieu du village 

You may think this means the intention to re-build a village church but, here too, you shouldn’t take this sentence literally.

In Switzerland, this means to put something in order or, as a French person would say, “remettre les choses en ordre.

Ça joue ou bien?

This means ‘is everything ok?’, or, if you only speak French-French, it’s simply ‘ça va?

Deçu en bien

For a Swiss person this phrase conveys that someone is pleasantly surprised — or ‘être agréablement surpris’ if you come from across the border.

But wait, there is more

The Swiss are not necessarily known for their penchant for simplicity, but when it comes to double-digit numbers, they opted for the less complex and tongue-twisting way than their French counterparts.

In France, for instance, 93 is quite a mouthful: quatre-vingt-treize (four twenties and 13), but the Swiss cut to the chase with nonante-trois (ninety-three).

Ditto for the number 70 (soixante-dix), 80 (quatre-vingt), and 90 (quatre-vingt-dix).

The Swiss-French equivalents, on the other hand, are the breezy septante, huitante, and nonante.

Other notable differences are, for example, collège or gymnase (high school) in French-speaking cantons, and ‘lycée’ in France.

Then there is la panosse (mop) in Switzerland, while the same thing is called la serpillière in France.

And another one is ‘Nom de bleu’, it is basically ‘dammit’ (pardon our French) — which is ‘nom de dieu’ in France.

READ ALSO: The Swiss French words which help you sound like a local

This is by no means is an exhaustive list, though many people may find it exhausting nevertheless.

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