Monday Musings - Couch, sofa, settee - what's in a name

I mostly hear this item of furniture referred to as a sofa or a couch, but the other day a friend referred to it as a settee, which got me wondering what the difference really was. I did some research on the web, which didn't really provide me with the right answers, but did provide me with some great entertainment which I  thought I would share with you.

Courtesy of Yahoo, here are some answers to the question "What is the difference between a couch, a sofa and a settee:

• A couch is very similar to a sofa. Derived from Middle French, couche, a couch is an article of furniture for sitting or reclining. Sofa, taken from the Arabic suffah, is a long upholstered seat usually with arms and a back. A settee is a long seat with a back or a medium-sized sofa. So there you go. Just sit your *** down and enjoy...who really cares what the difference is.  

• A sofa is what an English person sits upon. A couch is what an American person sits upon. A settee is what a civilised person sits upon.

• people who use serviettes have a settee,
  people who use napkins have a sofa
  people who have clients have a couch

• Dogs are not allowed on couches....
  
  you always find weird stuff down the back of your sofa.....
  
  Your gran has/had a settee.
  
  But you can, apparently, spill lager on all of them :o)

• about $200 between each.............

• Settee is what I call it
  Sofa and couch are normally what the posh people call them

• I call it a sofa now!! But it was always "Settee" when I was a kid - I wouldn't call the word settee 'posh' like the first answerer lol!! I grew up in a council house and me mum was a dinner lady and me dad was a bus cleaner and everyone I knew in the street called it a "settee" We thought calling it a 'sofa' was posh lol!

• i think they are all synonyms in general use, but wikipedia states that a sofa and a settee are a type of couch with the settee having 2.5 seats and the sofa 3. Really??? What's the point of half a seat??

• My American friend sits on a couch.
  My Granny used to sit on a settee.

• they're all the same when you're drunk and can't make it up the stairs...

  
  

• A sofa is a thing in a college dorm that is old, stained and stinks.. a couch is what you burn before/during/after a WVU game, and a settee is what rich snobs have in their formal living rooms...
  
  Or in other words: A sofa has previously been a settee and will eventually be turned into a couch. 

• You forgot Divan.
  
  We had a Divan in the house.

• you get to know someone on a settee, proper, no hands
  you put your arms around them on a sofa while watching the tele, little more relaxed
  and you make out on a couch, tv off, music playing

• one is the American way to say it, and two a British ways of saying it That's it really

• Nothing! There's an English rugby supporter, crying on each of them. HaHa!

• I have often wondered that. I call it a settee, my hubby calls it a sofa and the kids call it a couch. No wonder the flippin dog is confused when we yell at it for sitting up there.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Perhaps you know the difference....

  
  

  Wishing you a great week ahead.

  
  

  Till next time

  
  

  Sharon x

Image sources:   1. Particular Poetry, 2. Block and Chisel, 3,4. Casa Decorada, 5 Tumblr 6. Dying of Cute 7. Tumblr 8. Ashley White Design 9. Decorare 10. Inspiration Online 11. Particular Poetry   12, Farriers 13. Inspiration Online 14. Little Green Notebook 15 Stylish Serendipity blog 16. Unknown  17. Tumblr