Today’s bidet, once againto have a chance. While international athletes and journalists descend on northern Italy for 2026 Winter Olympicssome participants wondered about additional pieces of equipment in their bathrooms. Europeans, familiar with oval bowls, found themselves equally bewildered by their confusion. Cultural exchange always has hiccups.

Last week, US broadcaster Alicia Lewis posted a TikTok asked if the Italian bidet in his room was, in fact, a bidet. An Associated Press report noted that “the fixture is de rigueur in Italian lodgings but often confuses guests—including some athletes whose bedroom videos do double-takes.” Much of the confusion on social media has died down, but interest in the bidet is on the rise.

When the new mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdanimoved into Gracie Mansion last month, he spoke of having “wishful hope” to put a bidet in there. WIRED again recommend them for some time.

However, it remains a mystery to many. So it seems only right to give a little explanation for the uninitiated.

Although the French are believed to be particularly averse to the bidet, the device appears to have been invented in France in the early 18th century. However, the identity of its inventor remains unknown. The name comes from a transalpine term for ponies, small but powerful all-purpose horses (from times“running”). Basically, it is a reference to the straddling position adopted to perform the most hygienic practices.

The first evidence of the bidet in Italy comes around 1720. The evidence of its widespread adoption comes in the second half of the century when the Queen of the Two Sicilies, Maria Carolina of Habsburg-Lorraine, requested the installation of the device – then only a basin with foot-like supports – in her private rooms in the Palace of Caserta.

However, the bidet only spread in Italy in fits and starts. In the 20th century, with the advancements in plumbing, it moved from the bedroom to the bathroom. But its greatest spread occurred after the Second World War, especially after it was made compulsory by law in every private house since 1975.

Today, the bidet is still widespread in Greece, Turkey, and Finland (although usually in the “shower bidet” version where the shower nozzle is next to the toilet). Bidets are also popular in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and northern Africa.

In Japan, the bidet and the toilet have recently merged into a “washlet,” with automatic and adjustable jets from within the bowl itself.

The recent sociocultural success of the bidet comes with a new environmental awareness. As Mamdani extolled the virtues of the apparatus, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection posted a video on social media promoting “more bidets = fewer wet wipes.” With many people opting for wet wipes instead of toilet paper, a turn on the bidet can save the amount of red tissue.

While bidets spreading in the US may seem unlikely, they are spreading—and certainly show no signs of going away.

This story originally appeared on WIRED Italy. It was translated from Italian.