Bidets are now, once again, having a moment. As international athletes and journalists descend on northern Italy for the 2026 Winter Olympics, certain participants have wondered about the additional piece of equipment in their bathrooms. Europeans, quite familiar with the oval basins, have found themselves similarly perplexed by their confusion. Cultural exchange often has its hiccups.

Last week, US broadcaster Alicia Lewis posted a TikTok asking if the Italian bidet in her room was, in fact, a bidet. An Associated Press report noted that “the fixture is de rigueur in Italian residences but often perplexes visitors—including some athletes whose room videos have done double-takes.” Most of the confusion on social media has dissipated, but interest in bidets has been on the rise.

When New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, moved into Gracie Mansion last month, he spoke of having an “aspirational hope” of installing bidets there. WIRED has also been recommending them for some time.

Still, they remain a mystery to many. So it seems only right to offer a bit of an explanation for the uninitiated.

Although the French are believed to be particularly averse to the bidet, the tool seems to have been invented in France during the early part of the 18th century. Still, the identity of its inventor remains unknown. The name comes from a transalpine term for ponies, small but vigorous all-purpose horses (from bider, “to trot”). Basically, it’s a reference to the straddling position adopted to perform the most hygienic practices.

The first evidence of the bidet in Italy comes around 1720. Evidence of its widespread adoption comes in the second half of the century when the Queen of Two Sicilies, Maria Carolina of Habsburg-Lorraine, demanded the installation of the devices—then a mere basin with leglike supports—in her private rooms at the Palace of Caserta.

Still, the bidet only spread through Italy in fits and starts. In the 20th century, with advancements of indoor plumbing, it made the move from bedroom to bathroom. But its biggest diffusion occurred after World War II, especially after it was made compulsory by law in every private home since 1975.

Today, the bidet is still fairly widespread in Greece, Turkey, and Finland (although often 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 the “washlet,” which features automatic and adjustable jets from inside the bowl itself.

The renewed sociocultural success of the bidet comes alongside new environmental awareness. When Mamdani extolled the apparatus’s virtues, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection posted a video on social media emphasizing “more bidets = fewer wet wipes.” With many people opting for wet wipes instead of toilet paper, a turn to bidets could save in the amount of tissue that gets flushed.

While bidets becoming widespread in the US seems unlikely, they are spreading—and definitely show no signs of being wiped out.

This story originally appeared in WIRED Italia. It has been translated from Italian.