so i lit a fire

[pensnest]

Do you sit on

a couch
a sofa
a settee
something else in the same line (no fair saying 'a chair')?

Do you perceive any difference between these three things? Can you define it?

Comments

[sporky_rat]

A couch and sofa are similar but not the same, a sofa is a fancier couch, usually seats three to four, depending on the humans. A settee is much fancier, usually lower arms, not nearly as comfy to sit on, and more wood or metal than fabric or leather. A chaise lounge has no arms or very short ones with a long seat and a curved back. I have a settee in my library, a sofa and a couch in the living room, and a chaise lounge in the mudroom.

[pensnest]

There does seem to be a general agreement that a settee is fancier and less comfortable, which, yes, makes sense. I like your graded distinctions, though I think that for me, a couch is bigger than a sofa.

I was going to suggest your 'chaise lounge' is a typo for 'chaise longue', but corvidology above cited 'lounge' as an alternate for couch, so perhaps a chaise lounge is what it is now called. I can imagine that the language has slipped it from one name to another that makes more sense for people who don't speak a lot of French.