Living room / Sitting room / Lounge? Sofa / Settee?

[adamadamum]

I am not sure if I am posting in the correct place, but I am curious as to what you call yours! And what does the name they give for each, say about a person? Thanks!

Oh and pudding, not dessert, sweet or afters

And invitation, not invite.

I think my identity is confused because sometimes I say settee othertimes it is a couch. Sometimes it is a front room we have other times it is the living room and occasionly it is a lounge!! Not sure why I have so many words for the two things but there you go. I'm going to make a note of how the kids refer to them out of interest.

I have breakfast, lunch and tea unless going out formally in the evening when it is refered to as 'dinner'. Supper is a biscuit and a mug of Horlicks.
Oh and we have a hall (sometime refered to as a hallway)

We have both a pudding and a desert. (pudding if it a hot meal - sponge and custard, crumble that sort of thing, sweet if it is sorbet or ice cream based)

God no. 'Afters' is awful. Pudding all the way here.

We have a hall, although really it should be a hallway, since it leads from the front door to the back of the house, with sitting-room off from it, but we had a hall when I was growing up so that's how it stays.

Wow! I am so glad that I asked! I say living room and sofa, and our meals are breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also wonder why at school they have "Dinner Money". I have never been sure whether to say "Serviette" or "Napkin". I love how this has grown!

Another one - Television, T.V., or telly?

Television. At a push - T.V. but never telly.

What seeker says - it's invitation! FFS.

Oh and "whatdidyousay?" never "pardon?".

I do fall down on toilet though - am trying to wean myself off that.

If one more person says to my DCs "don't say whatdidyousay - say pardon!" I shall put a settee somewhere reeeeeally uncomfortable (and not a lounge).

sitting room, sofa, napkin, supper. Am a caricature of myself.

What a bunch of desperate social climbers you all sound!

Behave! There are people dying of hunger and you're all worried what you call your mealtimes and something you wipe your mush with??!

If you need to keep trying to perfect your airs and graces (or ask if you're doin it right) then you obviously never had them in the first place.

For the record, before I get flaming roasted or whatever: I would probably be classed as lower middle class (all my family were farmers) and we all sound(ed) common as muck at times, but we had large farms, tons of land and quite of lot of dosh - so it seemed only right not to try to sound posh, as we didn't want to rub it in others faces and get taken the pee out of by the locals like the real gentry did.

So, it may be reverse snobbism, but i hate snobbery and wish people would be true to themselves. Not saying you shouldn't try to better yourself but don't take it so seriously!

I say living room and sofa. We have breakfast, lunch, supper (main meal). When I was growing up there was breakfast, elevenses, lunch (except for Sunday dinner), tea (cakes etc), dinner (except for Sunday supper). And definitely pudding .

Easy there, akangarooloose. It's a light-hearted thread- no desperate social climbing going on here.

Other than that, I found your post most amusing. Cheers for that.

A social climber is someone who changes their language and behaviour to suit what they think is a higher stratum of society. No one is doing that on here - they are just amusing themselves by listing class identifiers. An age old English entertainment.

And I am being absolutely true to myself when I refuse to use the words serviette or toilet. Despite the howls of mirth I engender every time I open my mouth.

Recently managed to wean myself off wireless and on to radio at the Mitford School for the Strangulated.

@ Kangaroo and at Seeker and her wireless.

Wireless just sounds so much more substantial than radio. So much more solid and grounded.....I say wireless and teenagers think I'm talking modems. I'm so not.

Sitting room is the one out front where the telly and bookcase reside.

Living room is the one where everyone eats.

Kitchen is where the cooking is done (and I realise for a lot of people it is also where they eat).

Ours is a settee.

Lounge Room and Couch (maybe it's an Australian thing)

Breakfast (or breakky)
Lunch
Dinner
Dessert

Napkins

Ok, I apologise for previous post.

Sorry to those of you who have been brought up using the 'better class' of vocabulary. You are obviously not changing your ways to improve your social standing.

However, I would still say 'Hyacinth Bucket' to anyone who is trying really hard to remember all those words they have only just realised are posher than the ones they were brought up with. You can end up looking very sad - as can food and travel snobs imo.

But, as I said before, I don't think it's bad to try to better yourself, just don't put others down if they choose not to (or don't know the difference) and don't lose yourself in trying to keep up with others.

Thank you akl for that very well expressed post.

I especially like the last sentence - I have recently come to realise that people doing things in a different manner to me are not "wrong", just different and their decisions are equally as valid in society as mine. I think you last part sums that ethos up excellently , so thank you I will embrace that attitude.

Thank you Chaos.

I am not above sneering at certain words myself, but probably the opposite ones to most on here:

eg. I hate Grandma/Grandpa (prefer common old nana and grandad - just more cuddly to me)

I have no idea why you can't say toilet. Lavatory is just old Ladies surely? Bathroom is a euphanism quite often, if it's a downstairs one with just a toilet in it!
and Loo is fine in a rush and bog is fine within the family...or not?!

And again, can't be bothered with two words when one will do - it's a lounge (no it's not a hotel, it's somewhere you LOUNGE about in, preferably on a nice comfy three-piece suite) - not a sitting-room/living room.

Must look up origins of 'lounge' - sounds so 70's (as in 'lounge suit' - aaagh!) but I thinks that what binds me to it - nostaglia..