Toilet flushing slowly

[marksf]

For the past couple days, my toilet has been flushing oddly. When I flush, the bowl fills up and slowly drains. The FAQ says that this indicates the mainline is clogged up. I don't know the anatomy of a toilet. What does the "mainline" refer to (Wikipedia is of no use here)?

A while ago, I noticed that a manhole on the street in front of my building is overflowing. I don't remember when I first saw it, but it's been at least a few days. Today when I walked by, I saw that it had not been fixed yet.

Could these events be related?

[plumbermandan]

the "main line" is the sewer line that runs to the cities or septic. it could also be something in the toilet but yes if the cities sewer main is clogged and over flowing it would cause your problem