Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Do you say housecoat or dressing gown?

122 replies

FleetingGlance · 24/08/2022 13:06

Roundabout or island?
Roll or bun or cob or bap?

OP posts:
AllyCatTown · 24/08/2022 22:28

I never knew housecoat and dressing gown were different to some. Where I’m from people use housecoat to mean what lots of people use here for dressing gown.

I didn’t know that island and roundabout could be interchangeable though. They mean different things to me.

Roll.

RampantIvy · 24/08/2022 22:32

To me a housecoat is a sort of overall that you wear over your clothes to keep them clean when doing mucky jobs.

BarbaraofSeville · 24/08/2022 22:37

Curiously, if you google Liverpool housecoat, all of the results are for Liverpool FC branded dressing gowns, but the word housecoat never appears.

Nor are there any pictures of garments that look like what Nora Batty would approve of.

OhSusannah · 24/08/2022 22:39

Dressing gown of course. Can't imagine the term "house coat". Either dressing gown or "goonie". Nothing else will do.

lisavanderpumpscloset · 24/08/2022 22:40

Dressing gown
Roundabout
Cob

mathanxiety · 24/08/2022 23:28

@SatinHeart I would think a housecoat is an exclusively feminine article of clothing.

XenoBitch · 24/08/2022 23:30

Dressing gown
Roundabout
Roll

ArabeI · 25/08/2022 00:03

A housecoat is like a long bed jacket (I don't know of anyone who still wears one of those), I've seen housecoats in quilted sateen or a fleece-type fabric, usually with buttons. They're like loungewear I suppose, though more structured than a dressing gown.

Thé protective nylon 'coats' I've only ever heard called pinafores.

Watchthesunrise · 25/08/2022 03:34

Dressing gown or robe
Roundabout
Bun or roll

Starseeking · 25/08/2022 05:22

Dressing gown
Roundabout
Roll

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 25/08/2022 08:32

@WendyAndDave , that’s a pinny, isn’t it?

To me a housecoat is one of those quilted nylon things that were popular in the 60s and 70s (IIRC).

SheWoreYellow · 25/08/2022 08:54

WhereYouLeftIt · 24/08/2022 20:03

But - a goonie is a nightgown / nightdress, not a dressing gown / housecoat!

And a poke is a small paper bag with no handles, very different from a carrier bag (plastic, handles).

(I am Scottish too.)

My mum is Scottish and says Gowsie.

siriusblackcat · 25/08/2022 09:01

Dressing gown
Roundabout
Bread cake

knittingaddict · 25/08/2022 09:11

Loving all the "islands and roundabouts are different things". Not to my husband (born and raised in the Midlands) they aren't. The op isn't stupid.

Dressing gown.
Roundabout.
Roll, but sometimes bap.

Cam22 · 25/08/2022 10:12

FleetingGlance · 24/08/2022 13:06

Roundabout or island?
Roll or bun or cob or bap?

Dressing gown.

Roundabout.

Roll.

FluffyPinkSocks · 25/08/2022 10:15

Nightcoat

Roundabout

Bap

Shinyandnew1 · 25/08/2022 10:15

I would say (south east) that islands and roundabouts are different things, dressing gown and housecoats are different things and all rolls are rolls except burger buns which are buns.

differential · 25/08/2022 10:26

Dressing gown.

Roundabout or island interchangeably.

A cob is different to a bap. Baps are bigger and usually fluffy and floury. A bun has icing on it - iced bun. Roll is just the generic/pc term for cob/baps.

Black Country born and bread. Husband from East Mids had never heard of baps, only cobs.

ancientgran · 25/08/2022 10:32

WendyAndDave · 24/08/2022 13:36

Nora in her housecoat (under the cardigan)

That isn't what we called a housecoat in the 50s, the last time I heard of them. They were dressing gowns but with buttons like the picture @SheWoreYellow posted.

Crayfishforyou · 25/08/2022 11:13

Dressing gown, a housecoat is an overall type thing to clean in.

Island

roll or bap. A bun is sweet and a cob is a bad mood.

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 25/08/2022 11:34

Here in the Midlands lots of significant roundabouts have names. They are generally named "......... Island" and this is on signs and used in traffic reports on local and national radio. See for example "Pentagon Island", "Priory Island", "Nottingham Knight Island", "Spitfire Island", "Bardills Island" etc.

Roundabout is also used, but often for smaller less significant junctions, although it can be interchangeable.

Cob is the only correct word for a small bread product without "extras" though. Teacakes have dried fruit, buns are sweet or specifically for burgers, muffins are cakes. Roll is for posh southerners, bap is for northerners and jokes, breadcake is just stupid 😉.

Housecoats and dressing gowns are not the same. A dressing gown is a garment for when you get out of the bath or to wear over your nightwear. It is normally towelling or fleece but can be cotton, satin or silk in summer, it opens at the front, and is secured by a tie belt. A housecoat is not night/bedroom wear. It is for keeping your clothes clean while doing housework or adding a layer for warmth. It can be button up like a pretty lab coat, or wraparound, or go over the head like a tabbard. It is traditionally something that you would not answer the front door in or go out in (to do so would be common) but you might wear in the garden/yard or answer the backdoor in it. For example see Mrs Hall in All Creatures Great and Small, who has both a housecoat and a dressing gown.

YippieKayakOtherBuckets · 25/08/2022 11:43

I can confirm that 'island' is used almost exclusively for what I would call a roundabout here in the West Midlands.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page