There's more than one word for that oblong three seater relaxation station in your living room. In much the same manner as the "tomayto/ tomato' song, each of these words is perfectly acceptable, but one's got to be more correct than the others, right?
Well, using some detective skills (sorry, search engine skills) I've been able to make the following elementary observations:
Settee - refers originally to a bench, later came to be the term for a small sofa. Presumably the old-fashioned type with the twirly legs and hardly any padding, like what you'd see in a stately home.
Couch - generic North American term for sofa. In the UK, the term refers specifically to a chaise-longue type sofa, meant for lying down on [the word couch derives from the French word for 'bed']
Sofa - so far, so good. Sofa is the catch-all term that describes the types of furniture above, but is probably the most widely used term in the UK for your settee/couch/ whatever it's called.
Anyway, nomenclature aside, it's probably a good time to start thinkin about investing in a new leather sofa since VAT is going to rise to an eye-watering 20% come 2011.
It's strange I've just startedworking with a furniture shop, and they have strict rules on what they call things. I've always used the word Settee but they always use sofa. Intrestingly I've also alwys refered to the sitting room, or sometuimes front froom, but they always use living room, and living room furniture. http://www.furniture123.co.uk/sofas-and-living-room-furniture.html
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