Monday, February 21, 2011

Sofa vs. Couch- Spot the difference

One way to tell if your designer is really in the biz and knows what they are doing, is how they refer to one specific furniture piece. Is it called a sofa or a couch? First off, if you did not know what a "couch" was, just the sound of the word would make you assume it is not an attractive item. That is precisely how you can tell the difference between a couch and sofa. A sofa looks nice, a couch is something that belongs on the free section of craigslist. Here are some samples, and some dry designer humor.


cow-ouch


Sofa





couch (flaps on the back are for storing misc. items I guess?)





Sofa









Couch (oh no...not the cupholders)



Sofa






8 comments:

  1. LOL!!!! This is hilarious! Makes me think of school... good work Nate with all you're doing!

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  2. Good stuff. There really are some hideous couches out there. Who came up with that 3 puffy sections on the back thing? You know it's going to be a long day when you meet with a client who has one of those and says, "my husband thinks this couch is so comfortable so it has to stay." No amount of comfort can make up for that hot mess.

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  4. The sofas are for women and the couches are for men. Ask most men and they will go for the gaudiest looking couches. They really love those couches and chairs with the drink holders. I have to put my husband on hold for the couch until he has a man room.

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  5. Awesome looks of this sofa and couch. I really like this. A couch and sofa with minimalist, modern and contemporary design is the best choice to place in your living room. The modern sectional sofa and couch combines the elements of the classic sectional sofa and couch, with a modern edge. They are often complemented with pillows and cushions as well as a centre tablesee more

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  6. At least one online dealer offers both, and literally the only difference between the two is that the couch has 2 cushions, and the sofa has 3. Same overall dimensions, and no other details distinguishing the two!

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  7. The reason is simply because couches are not sofas. A couch is the armless variety of furniture that one would have seen in the Victorian period, as in "fainting couch." It was a place for the ladies wearing those tight fitting corsets which restricted breathing to be able to "sit a spell." The root of the word from the French has to do with "to lie down."
    In our more modern times, we've added arms, taken off the legs, and call it a sofa, which is in keeping with the Arabic roots of that word which implies a meaning along the lines of "a bench" or someplace meant for reclining or sitting, but not laying..
     
    REFERENCE:
    http://www.englishforums.com

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  8. Sofa is a pretentious Victorian word for couch.

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