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So, I'm trying to learn Spanish, and try to read many native opinions in the Internet fora, and I find weird things sometimes:

Could it be weird to use "la taza" alone, like saying the "toilet bowl"?
Would people use "vaso de café" instead, to avoid the ambiguity?

Is it a slang use, and could it be ambiguous? Or with other ambiguous meanings?

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  • Taza is not toilet bowl, ever.
    – Lambie
    Dec 12, 2019 at 19:32
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    @Lambie For you, not for all the Spanish speaking world. Please, mention where you are from.
    – Quidam
    Dec 13, 2019 at 8:42
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    @Lambie from DLE: Taza: "Receptáculo del retrete." In Spain you can perfectly say "la taza del váter".
    – Charlie
    Dec 13, 2019 at 8:51
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    In Spain "taza del váter" se usa muy comúnmente. De hecho ya lo indica el DLE en taza: 4. f. Receptáculo del retrete.
    – fedorqui
    Dec 13, 2019 at 8:52
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    in a context where you are ,for instance a worker, repairing toilets every day, I think you could use "taza", because you already know what is the context. So, it's not "ever", but rather "in normal contexts: no".
    – Quidam
    Dec 14, 2019 at 2:40

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I'm in doubt if I should write this as an answer or just as a comment because I think this is is very region dependent

In Colombia you could hear people saying explicitly "la taza del baño/sanitario" referring to the toilet bowl but not just «la taza» unless you are already talking about the restroom and it is very clear to which "taza" you are referring to.

Regarding your second example we always say "pocillo/taza de café" and not "vaso de café" as we use "vaso" for the one you drink milk from and you don't drink coffee on those.

In Colombia hot beverages like coffee, tea, chocolate are usually served on "taza" or "pocillo". This two words could be used to describe a cup but in the more strict meaning a "taza" has no handles while a "pocillo" has one handle but I think that is only for Colombia (perhaps only for the andean part of Colombia)

So as for your questions, there is no slang and no ambiguities. We use «taza» for coffee and we use it for the restroom but we explicitly say which one we are talking about when it is not obvious or implied.

i.e.

Do you want some coffee? Yes, a cup please (¿Quiéres café? Si, una taza por favor)

He was very drunk and spend the night hugging the toilet bowl (Estaba muy borracho y se pasó la noche abrazando la taza del sanitario)

Coffee cup (taza/pocillo de café)
enter image description here

Taza with no handles
enter image description here

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    Everything in this answer works also for Spain, except we say "la taza del váter" instead of "la taza del baño", and we do not use "pocillo".
    – wimi ♦
    Dec 12, 2019 at 18:50
  • Could you add to your answer the word for a mug in Colombia?
    – aris
    Dec 13, 2019 at 22:43
  • Why some people say "taza el váter" and not "del"? spanishdict.com/answers/108018/noun-for-a-toilet-
    – Quidam
    Dec 14, 2019 at 9:12
  • @wimi Actually, in some regions of Spain we do use "pocillo".
    – rodrigo
    Dec 14, 2019 at 10:41
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    @wimi North of Spain here too ;-)... My mother always uses pocillo for a small and fine cup for coffee. Taza is for a bigger not so fine cup.
    – rodrigo
    Dec 14, 2019 at 11:46

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