Couch, sofa or settee?

[spanglechick]

That is only a dialect difference not a terminological one.

nope, i disagree - a settle is the pew type bench affair you describe - nobody ever calls the upholstered elongated armchair thingy a settle.

however, an upholsetered elongated armchair is regularly and commonly called a settee, the word is very rarely (ie IME only by you) used to describe a wooden bench with a back and arms.

and the definition for a couch you have given (daybed with only one arm) is called a chaise longue everytime i have ever heard one spoken of.

As regards the op - i know i've used all three, but i think i use sofa most...

 

[tobyjug]

however, an upholsetered elongated armchair is regularly and commonly called a settee, the word is very rarely (ie IME only by you) used to describe a wooden bench with a back and arms.

.

Pardon me, it is not my definition, it is the original terminology not the bastardised modern one.

 

[Shirl]

That is only a dialect difference not a terminological one.

I think you're wrong there, a settle is quite different from a settee.

 

[Maggot]

But Tobyjug can't be wrong, his family have been making furniture for over 500 years!

 

[spanglechick]

Pardon me, it is not my definition, it is the original terminology not the bastardised modern one.

any online proof of that? any dictionaries where you get the wooden definition if you input "settee"?

 

[cyberfairy]

This thread might turn into the name of my fave furniture shop in Bristol...Sofa Riot

 

[tobyjug]

any online proof of that? any dictionaries where you get the wooden definition if you input "settee"?

Look it up for yourself settle and settee are the same, I am really not going to get into an argument over terminology that is part of furniture history:-
settle, settee

a long wooden bench with a back

 

[WasGeri]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/settee

 

[spanglechick]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/settee

well, i eat my words insofar as i did accuse tobes of being the only person with that definition, but i trust tobes is going to accept that it is a valid synonym for sofa, since it is given that definition too.

 

[Shirl]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/settee

Are you and Toby an item these days?

 

[WasGeri]

Are you and Toby an item these days?

Well, we are the two grumpiest posters

 

[Shirl]

Well, we are the two grumpiest posters

Look out or you'll have Mrs Jugs and the cornish piskies after you

 

[WasGeri]

well, i eat my words insofar as i did accuse tobes of being the only person with that definition, but i trust tobes is going to accept that it is a valid synonym for sofa, since it is given that definition too.

Ha! You could have kept your words from being eaten, with a quick gander on Google...

I just call anything that's bigger than a chair, a sofa. So much less confusion.

 

[editor]

No problem.
Settee
A long wooden bench with a back.

Actually, it can also mean "a small sofa"

 

[EastEnder]

If it's padded, got a flat bit and a upright bit, and is long enough to lie down on with a beer in one hand and a spliff in the other, then it's a sofa.

Anything else is sheer madness.

 

[spanglechick]

If it's padded, got a flat bit and a upright bit, and is long enough to lie down on with a beer in one hand and a spliff in the other, then it's a sofa.

Anything else is sheer madness.

i've seen you lie down plenty - but only ever on the floor - i don't believe you "do" sofas.

 

[trashpony]

i've seen you lie down plenty - but only ever on the floor - i don't believe you "do" sofas.

Hmm... that is a very good point. Perhaps he only does it when no one's looking?

 

[EastEnder]

i've seen you lie down plenty - but only ever on the floor - i don't believe you "do" sofas.

As every good host knows, it's only polite to offer the nicest bum parking sites to one's guests.

And as I only have the one sofa, I usually end up on the floor.

Not that I mind, cos I'm nice like that.

 

[spanglechick]

As every good host knows, it's only polite to offer the nicest bum parking sites to one's guests.

And as I only have the one sofa, I usually end up on the floor.

Not that I mind, cos I'm nice like that.

Eastender, you are without a shadow of a doubt, the most obliging and amenable host ever in the history of the world.

your mum must've brung you up proper.

 

[geminisnake]

It's settee now.

Sofas are for southerners

Looking at the poll results and having a vague idea where a lot of folk come from the north/south divide does seem very noticeable.

 

[geminisnake]

i don't believe you "do" sofas.

I am going to leave this thread before I make innuendos about EE 'doing' things, coz I'm nice like that

 

[rennie]

of course it's a couch.

 

[acechick]

I call it a lounge. As in "get your damn feet off the lounge".

Yes, I am talking about furniture. It's an australian thing.

 

[spring-peeper]

I call it all three, depending on my mood.

No poll option for that one

 

[Floh]

I grew up with a couch -- but my mum was welsh.

i've been known to say setee, occasionally.

i say sofa or couch and have done since early 80s. moreso sofa.

here in northern Germany we say sofa or couch.

(canapeè is said in northern Germany too -- but it's really an old fashioned term. just adding to the mix.)

 

[Monsy]

Brought up in Scotland - couch!

 

[snadge]

well I have a couch longue at the minute, one of the ends fell of me setee, it's a right sofa bitch.

 

[girasol]

sofa... It's the same in Portuguese, so it was easier for me remember!

 

[marco mark]

"canapeè is said in northern Germany" and in greece too... um strange, but it's still Sofa

 

[sheothebudworths]

I am really not going to get into an argument over terminology that is part of furniture history...